Garmin reviews

Upper management once seemed strong and flawless. Now, they have no clue how to fend off competition. No realistic vision for the future. Management problem solving technique is to require more overtime rather than using creative solutions. Mandatory 60 hour work weeks. Canceled holiday weekends. Still think solutions and processes that were successful in the 90's still work today. Middle management are typically yes-men. Consistently make short-sided decisions. Avoid difficult decisions and hope they go away, but rarely do. Unwilling to invest in tools and process. Never willing to pay for on the job education. Some 1st level management promoted too soon in their careers, lacking leadership skills, and left hanging on difficult projects, with little training and support from management.

As a creative employee, I feel Garmin dismisses us as production artists. Most of all, HR and department heads outside of the creative groups have no idea what we do. And this is across the board from Industrial Design to Marketing. The major creative decisions made at Garmin are most often decided by people completely out of touch with creativity and style. I mean these guys (some of them) buy their clothes at Walmart and drive Ford Focuses. How do they qualify in deciding what looks nice? They have Engineering backgrounds and are interested in numbers, not colors. It makes no sense. Shouldn't the creative decisions be made by the Directors of creative departments and their employees? As far as pay scale, Garmin still puts emphasis on engineering rather than creativity. And I know what some starting Engineers get paid out of college. Does $15k seem like a reasonable difference for starting salaries between engineering and creative? Get with the program, Garmin.