Love My Job - Software Engineer Garmin Employee Review

5.0
Jan 17, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

In my team the work environment is very healthy. We have great leaders whom I trust. The work environment is healthy. Software engineering managers strive to hold us to a 40 hour workweek. I've never felt overworked here. In software engineering we do anything from web applications to mobile apps to assembly code drivers. There's a lot of freedom to move around to try different things. I've known a number of folks to switch teams as their interests change. The work itself is challenging. Garmin is always needing to innovate to stay in business. We set a very high bar with new product introductions. What other company introduces new wearables and action cams to the market which are instantly recognized as amongst the best in class. Aviation is slowly but surely growing, and Marine is #1 in the world. We want to win here. I'm content with my salary. RSUs and PSUs come as you demonstrate value to the team. Health insurance benefits are absolutely outstanding -- I pay next to nothing to have pretty much everything covered. And the Employee Stock Purchase Plan is a wonderful benefit -- you're guaranteed to make 15% on 10% of your salary. In some periods where the stock price jumped I made 50% on my money. 401(k) match is similarly outstanding -- 75 cents to the dollar up to 10% of your income. If I made a career out of Garmin I'd be guaranteed to retire a millionaire with that kind of match. On top of all that, the campus is growing. It's really transformed the last few years to be a fun place to play. Sand volleyball, soccer/ultimate Frisbee, a walking trail, gardening club, fitness room with equipment, ping pong, and so on. It's just a fabulous place to work. I can't speak for the negative reviews here, but my experience has been nothing but positive.

Cons

Honestly, nothing. This is a genuine endorsement of the company.

Explore other reviews about Garmin

5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work life balance Good people

Cons

Lower salary compared to market

3.0
Apr 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits and work life balance. It's a good culture and I've never worked at a place where your immediate peers are this helpful and pleasant to work with, even across teams and offices. If you want to just come in and do just what is required for your job and go home with the knowledge you have a stable job, this is the perfect place to work. I'd only recommend working here if you just want a job, but don't care about a career.

Cons

There is poor career advancement, especially if you aren't male. Leadership does not care about leading people. The RTO has made working here less appealing. The excuse that you can't collaborate unless you are in the same building makes no sense when you work with people in 6 different countries. It is about control and appearances, all due to incredibly poor senior leadership strategies. The pay is also low and so is the quality of the software you work on. Leadership likes to talk quality, but they like fast and cheap. They will not support you in actual software quality nor implement changes to improve it. The same issues happen over and over without improvement.

9
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