Times Are Changing - Employee Looking for A Way Out REI Employee Review

1.0
Apr 30, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Non management employees genuinely care about each other and the company but this is rapidly dissipating. The gear discounts are good at first but there is a point in time where you have all the gear one could possibly ever need not to mention that it is hard to afford the gear even at the discounted price. Remains a co-op...for now.

Cons

The Fairfax store, for many years, has been a home away from home and a place that you looked forward to the interactions of both employees and customers alike. Now, it takes every ounce of my being just to get out of the car and walk across the parking lot to work a dead end job where store moral has fallen off the table. Hours are cut during the slow periods to "meet business needs" all the while treated like a second class employee. Once business picks up, you are scheduled to the max of your availability and expected to care about a company that only a few short moths ago, cast you aside. Often times during this busy time you are scheduled six, seven, sometimes nine days in a row and if you speak up about it you are reminded how you wanted more hours. Employee turn-over is on the rise and there is nothing being done to retain the employees because management views you as expendable. The compensation and wage increases are a joke and are at the point of being just a notch above a slap in the face with no solid reason or goals of how you could do better and when asked how to make more money you are told to move up in the company but there is a lack of upward mobility and the "endorsement process" is a mythical process that has no guidelines. The endorsement process has lead to more departures of many, many high quality employees than is has seen promoted to the ranks of management. My advice to you is to seek employment with any other company but this one, if you are going to be treated like a second class employee, you might as well get paid more for it. There is a reason why this company dropped from a top 10 on Fortunes Top Companies To Work For list all the way down to 69th. The staff are crying out, lets not hope it falls on deaf ears.

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Jan 24, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Amazon place to develop real world skills

Cons

The holidays were Crazy busy

3.0
May 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most coworkers, some managers, discounts, outfitting people properly without extra nonsense

Cons

Some truly horrible managers, pressure to sell credit cards is a morale killer, the union people. Employees drinking the union kool aid fail to see the company’s position, REI cannot give higher pay, better benefits , consistent hours, etc… with the erratic revenue stream that comes in , if a 5 year average is X in revenue and 5 year average is Y on wages and costs, how are they supposed to increase wages and benefits? It’s numbers and they don’t line up, if REI gives the increases which increases the expenses greatly, they will cut staff, a lot fewer employees which will eliminate a bunch of union supporters, an REI job is not supposed to be a lucrative deal, when you get hired the part time , part time plus and full time options are there and you choose what you want fully understanding what hours you are going to get at minimum, they will hire those positions on a need basis, to cry later that you don’t make enough money is your fault, the terms were clear and you signed off on them. The union is promising rainbows , reality will be far different, careful what you wish for

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