Is DSW a good company to work for?

DSW has an overall rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 4,151 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months. 50% of employees would recommend working at DSW to a friend and 34% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about DSW have been left by employees working as Cashier , Retail Associate and Retail Sales Associate .

Does DSW pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, DSW employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at DSW. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at DSW?

50% of DSW employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated DSW 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.2 for culture and values and 2.8 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at DSW?

Sales Associate (1522) , Retail Sales Associate (198) , Part Time Sales Associate (138) , Store Manager (128) , Sales Associate/Cashier (103) , Assistant Manager (98) , Sales Supervisor (78) , Associate (66) , Assistant Store Manager (55) , Cashier (52) , Store Associate (46) , Manager (31) , Supervisor (29) , Warehouse Associate (21) , Customer Service Representative (19)

What are the pros of working at DSW according to real employee reviews?

"Great during school semesters and flexible hours" ((in 221 reviews)); "the discount is great and all the people who work there are friendly and are always willing to give you a hand when needed." ((in 209 reviews)); "They were flexible with my schedule and the job consisted of easy tasks and all my fellow coworkers were great." ((in 206 reviews)); "flexible schedule and good for college" ((in 109 reviews)); "Good benefits and understanding when it comes to emergency time off" ((in 100 reviews))

What are the cons of working at DSW according to real employee reviews?

"IT management was poor and there weren't a lot of star performers in the department." ((in 249 reviews)); "Managers do not enjoy answering questions for new staff or training them at all" ((in 237 reviews)); "bullies that blame matters on employees high turnover rate.. low pay.. 1" ((in 206 reviews)); ".."That's how you learn" (no training)" ((in 54 reviews)); "Bad store manager at the time" ((in 45 reviews))

What are employees saying about DSW layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about DSW layoffs and their outlook for job security at DSW in 2026.

What are the top reviewed DSW locations?

Columbus , New York , Chicago , Houston , Atlanta , San Antonio , Miami , Washington , Dallas , Los Angeles , Fairfax , Baltimore , Cincinnati , Wayne , San Diego , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Boston , Brooklyn , Austin , Cleveland , Tampa , Denver , Omaha , Fort Worth , Seattle , Philadelphia , Paramus , Skokie , Phoenix

DSW reviews

3.4

50% would recommend to a friend

(4,074 total reviews)

Doug Howe

53% approve of CEO

34% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.9

Diversity & inclusion

3.2

Culture & values

3.2

Work/Life balance

3.0

Compensation and benefits

2.9

Senior management

2.8

Career opportunities

DSW has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,074 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The DSW employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

4K reviews

5.0

Jan 15, 2011

I had a wonderful Manager who made my employment at DSW a wonderful one.

Merchandise manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great Manager, Great product, Great co-workers and associates. Depending on your Manager, your training can be very detailed and extensive which helps to get promoted quicker, but you control your training. Other Managers within the district are very willing to help each other.

Cons

Needed more payroll to achieve tasks/selling balance, Managers were always being pulled out of building to help other stores leaving our store very short-handed

3.0

Nov 9, 2010

Ok

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

DISCOUNT shoes customers Pay was ok Employees were great

Cons

music pushy about rewards program environment Hours Management

1.0

Nov 4, 2010

Unsatisfying, pushy position with no commission

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Employee discount SHOES! Fun brand meetings Nice co-workers (where I worked at least) 2 out of my 4 managers were pleasant to work with

Cons

Low pay You have to literally hound customers to buy shoes and to sign up for the stupid rewards program. Headsets. NO COMMISSION! You are expected to entice customers into buying shoes and get yelled at over the headset when customers in your 'section' leave without buying anything! So what happens when you spend half an hour with a customer helping them stuff their feet into ten different pairs of shoes like a slave, and they end up buying a couple pairs? Absolutely nothing.

Viewing 4066 - 4068 of 4,074 Reviews

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DSW reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

I had a wonderful Manager who made my employment at DSW a wonderful one.

Ok

Unsatisfying, pushy position with no commission

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