A great experience overall, but recent changes fall short - Anonymous Brooks Running Employee Review

5.0
Feb 12, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are so many things to love about working at Brooks: 1.) A positive, optimistic culture that results in some of the most kind, welcoming, and helpful coworkers you could imagine working with. 2.) An impressive focus on DEI that not only touches our corporate environment, but helps ensure representation of runners from all backgrounds throughout our marketing campaigns and within the run community as a whole. 3.) A major investment into people leaders via a robust 3-year development program aimed at helping set all managers up for success. I've never seen anything like this at previous companies. 4.) Approachable and down-to-earth senior leadership. It is a pleasure getting to interact with every single employee who works at this company, to experience the unique culture that exists here, and to feel so well-supported by the leaders we have running our team.

Cons

1.) The pay is not competitive. I applaud the recent investment in trying to get everyone's compensation closer to the market, but truth is that it still falls short and we risk losing great talent to other companies who can pay AT LEAST 10% more base salary while offering stocks and a better (and less variable) bonus, blowing the total comp at Brooks out of the water. 2.) Removing flexibility to work from home. Requiring individuals to be in office not only on specific days, but enforcing the amount of hours they must be present in office is highly impactful and borders on micromanagement. Especially given the fact Brooks has many employees with families and/or other outside commitments they need to tend to. The 40-60% designation that was previously in place struck a perfect balance of increasing in-person engagement while providing flexibility to work around one's personal schedule, and there should have been work done to get employee feedback before making what will be a drastic change by the end of 2024.

Explore other reviews about Brooks Running

5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

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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