Pros
There are some really kind, great people, who, like you, are stuck in this situation. I truly value the relationships I formed here with my coworkers, who were helpful, kind, and willing to teach and help you, because Gibson’s lack of training fell short. Unfortunately, none of these people are in management, and never will be because Gibson does not promote from within.
Cons
Cheap cheap cheap! Both in the products they produce AND how they treat their workforce. If you’re lucky, you won’t be here long. The company loves to talk up how their average tenure here is years and years, but it seems there are “lifers” here in upper management who are inflating these averages. Want to level up? Well, you can’t, Gibson doesn’t promote from within, and if you think you deserve a pay raise, forget it, you’ll be fighting back and forth with HR for MONTHS; I am not exaggerating on this. They won’t email you back, you just have to accost them at their office to discuss anything. I’m a professional, and it was so disheartening to work here. I constantly felt like I was back in school where teachers don’t trust students. I didn’t feel like an equal here. I felt like a servant. Have opinions? Keep them to yourself, sit down, shut up, and just produce work. But not like that, like this. No that’s wrong, do it like this. That’s incorrect, do it like this. Yep, micromanagement is another tactic they love to employ. If you value the work you produce, do yourself a favor and don’t work here. If you’re unemployed, work here for a little while, then find something better and get out. The office itself is abysmal. Crammed, overly full company parking lot. Very few restaurants or food options nearby, pretty much only fast food. Disgusting, ripped carpet, in this dark, dingy hole of an office. Very few windows, and they’re conveniently all on the side of the building with the conference rooms and exec offices. No light of day reaches the hole where you’ll be working. Calling it a “pit of despair” would not be inaccurate. Bathrooms, while clean, constantly ran out of toilet paper and seat covers, so you always need to check before you use a stall. Funny, because their showroom is actually pretty nice and well lit. You can see the huge difference walking from the showroom into the office area. It’s totally different and shows a high level of effort for their buyers that they’d never provide to their workers. Does your department celebrate birthdays? Well, you’ll be chipping in for birthday cakes all year round. They do not provide any kind of budget for any extra celebrations or team building activities. They do all-office events (at least they did pre-covid), like Halloween or Thanksgiving events, but they’re… embarrassing. If you’re goaded in to showing up, they’ll just yell at you to participate in their weird, forced events. Why not break that budget up and let departments do their own thing? Nah. That’d be relinquishing control and Gibson hates to do that! Most of all: THIS OFFICE NEEDS TO PROVIDE DRINKING WATER. The entire building uses a single RO spigot in the kitchen, and the drinking water tastes like it just came out of the inside of a dirty, old city pipe. IT IS DISGUSTING. I started bringing cases of water to work because I couldn’t handle the disgusting tap water they provide. Is water too much to ask for?
