Stagnant - Anonymous employee Brooks Running Employee Review

2.0
Apr 19, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Fun Environment at times -Great Discount -Location

Cons

-If you like your current job in the company you are in luck, you wont move up! There has been a rash of established employees moving to other positions within the company and vacating jobs. Usually this is a good sign but the spots have been back filled from people outside the company. -The company model has been to underpay but make up for it in experience, now they just underpay. -VP and Director level mgmt is out of touch and over extended. -No one is willing to take a stand and step on some toes meaning nothing gets done. -Temps and contractors fill their quota for demographics not full-timers. -Communication between departments is non-existent and the confusion shows. - Managers seem to be talent blind. -HR clearly is on the company side and not willing to put work in to do right by the employees.

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Brooks Running Response
8y
I want to thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. It disappoints me to hear your experience at Brooks has felt stagnant. This is not what I would want for you or any Brooks employee. Fortunately, the health of our business has created career growth opportunities at Brooks, and internal promotions have followed. Sometimes, however, an open role’s scope requires skills and experience found outside of Brooks. We’ve never been more intentional about frequently surfacing employees’ career development aspirations; our quarterly Sprint development discussions are one example. If these Sprints aren’t accomplishing what we’d hoped for you, I’d be interested to know your thoughts on how we can do better. If there’s one thing I’m reminded of every day, it’s that we cannot over-communicate in business. Whether it's between departments or from VPs and directors to their teams, we can always do better. We’ve seen improved communication flow with increased rigor around meetings and reporting, as well as through the addition of communication-centric events such as department-led informational Happy Hours and Brookslandia learning hours. Our global intranet also houses a ton of great info. Make no mistake, communication can always get better, and I’m committed to doing exactly that. Regarding pay, it's important to know we have a rigorous benchmarking process where we consistently align competitively within our industry. The other side of this coin, and as you mentioned, is our emphasis on employee experience with benefits such as our generous PTO and family leave policies, our flexible work environment, our prioritization of an active lifestyle in and out of work and our commitment to a healthy work-life balance. Ultimately, we hope current and future employees find value not only in their total comp package but also in the opportunity to build something meaningful—to inspire others to live healthier, more connected lives. Finally, I personally don't believe we're settling for being behind the industry. This year our growth is outpacing the industry, which reflects more customers choosing Brooks. Many of the technologies and philosophies we've pioneered (e.g., FitStation, Run Signature, and our POVs on barefoot running and pronation) are widely regarded as industry-leading throughout the running community. In addition, our recent Cultural Strengths Survey shows our employees share a deep sense of pride around the products we build—it’s one of the highest scores we gave ourselves. All the same, I want to thank you again for sharing your feedback. If you ever want to discuss any of this further, please feel free to stop by my desk or send me an email. Jim

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5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Anonymous contractor
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Pros

- excellent employee perks - gorgeous HQ office buildings with amenities - free lunch - supportive and passionate team members

Cons

- parking is not free for employees, but there are commuter benefits to offset that

2.0
Jun 7, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

PTO and benefits are good. There is free lunch and an onsite gym. Employees are encouraged to run and stay active, with office next to the Burke-Gilman running trail.

Cons

The culture is presented as fun and healthy but in reality it is fairly toxic within specific departments and feels very “high school”. It is also very hierarchical with lots of corporate bureaucracy. The company caters more to middle and upper level management, so expect limited growth and development opportunities. Unclear, constantly changing expectations and overlapping job roles are a common theme. Leadership is not held accountable within the organization. People who play the game and assimilate to the culture are rewarded and perpetuate the status quo way of doing things. This leads to a lack of diversity in thought but also diversity in general especially at the leadership level. There is an added complexity to everything that makes even the most simple work difficult. Everyone is overwhelmed by too many meetings and yet there is not a lot of cross-functional collaboration, as all of the teams work in silos and compete for resources. The company is trying to become a more global, but there are a lot of growing pains associated with this. For a growing company with headquarters in a location like Seattle, the pay is low and not competitive enough to attract and retain top talent. The office buildings also face local area constraints like expensive parking which is passed on to the employee. The company incentivizes alternative transportation but it can be difficult to figure out the best way to get to work. There has been reduced flexibility to work from home with more emphasis put on being in the office.

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