Engaging and challenging work - Senior Software Engineer Garmin Employee Review

4.0
Oct 13, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This is my second "real" job out of college and I couldn't be happier than I am working at Garmin. Initially, some of the work wasn't terribly interesting but that's what you should expect as a new hire. By now, I'm doing what I was made for, putting in extra hours just because I love what I'm doing. I expect I'll be at Garmin for a good long time. Benefits are excellent: 75% 401k match on the first 10% of your salary Very inexpensive health care Tuition reimbursement Incentives to become a private pilot Very nice discounts on Garmin products Plenty of little things like Costco/Sam's Club memberships, discounted YMCA memberships, etc I work with people much smarter than myself, so I'm constantly learning I have an amazing supervisor who lets me get my job done. The best kind is one who will get you whatever you need to get your job done while protecting you from inconsequential trivia, and I have one of those.

Cons

Salary - while it is decent, I do feel it is too low for what I do Upper management has a history of being close-lipped when it comes to financials, future plans, etc. They started doing some things to improve morale, but they didn't tell anybody what they were; it seems to us like nothing was being done. This is getting better, but still needs to be worked on. Consistency with performance reviews - Every year I've been here the process and ratings have changed; I have no idea if I've improved or not Career advancement is sortof a mixed bag. There is a career path with 7 levels for technical types, which is good. However, effectively 80% will potentially ever reach 3, 20% will reach 4, and 5/6/7 are forever out of reach.

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5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture, benefits, pay, and onsite gym.

Cons

Time off is not up to industry standard.

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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