Is Harbor Freight Tools a good company to work for?

Harbor Freight Tools has an overall rating of 3.6 out of 5, based on over 3,486 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 2% over the last 12 months. 64% of employees would recommend working at Harbor Freight Tools to a friend and 58% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Harbor Freight Tools have been left by employees working as District Manager , Equipment Operator and Human Resources .

Does Harbor Freight Tools pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Harbor Freight Tools employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Harbor Freight Tools. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Harbor Freight Tools?

64% of Harbor Freight Tools employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Harbor Freight Tools 3.5 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.6 for culture and values and 3.4 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Harbor Freight Tools?

Sales Associate (315) , Store Manager (211) , Logistics Supervisor (150) , Cashier (142) , Logistics Associate (133) , Sales Associate/Cashier (119) , Sales Supervisor (107) , Sales Manager (102) , Logistics Manager (83) , Assistant Manager (76) , Retail Sales Associate (63) , Warehouse Associate (61) , Senior Sales Associate (60) , Logistics (53) , Manager (49)

What are the pros of working at Harbor Freight Tools according to real employee reviews?

"very good part time job good pay and always rewarding employees" ((in 356 reviews)); "Health benefits are great and dental" ((in 259 reviews)); "Great place to work and people are great" ((in 148 reviews)); "You receive a small portion of time off on each paycheck depending on the hours you work." ((in 106 reviews)); "Coworkers were great and made work enjoyable." ((in 83 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Harbor Freight Tools according to real employee reviews?

"It just reeks of poor management and a lack of caring of who is promoted to what position." ((in 212 reviews)); "No work life balance work 2 or 3 overnights followed by an early shift then a close." ((in 98 reviews)); "early and long hours on some days" ((in 90 reviews)); "managers don't even know how to do their own job." ((in 82 reviews)); "Upper management is horrible." ((in 68 reviews))

What Harbor Freight Tools locations have received the highest employee ratings?

Sparks , Seattle , Hemet , Greer , Florence , Olean , Elwood , Green Bay , College Station , Virginia Beach

Harbor Freight Tools reviews

3.6

64% would recommend to a friend

(3,439 total reviews)

Eric Smidt

68% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.0

Compensation and benefits

3.8

Diversity & inclusion

3.6

Culture & values

3.5

Work/Life balance

3.4

Career opportunities

3.2

Senior management

Harbor Freight Tools has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 3,439 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Harbor Freight Tools employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

3K reviews

5.0

Dec 15, 2021

Career Growth and Personal Development

District manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Harbor Freight has afforded me great career growth as well as person development. From store manager to district manager, HFT has been patient in my development and has allowed me to grow into new roles. Not only is the pay competitive with AWESOME benefits, our work life balance is untouchable in the retail world!!

Cons

We are growing so fast that its sometimes challenging to keep up, but that's what makes it fun!

Harbor Freight Tools Response

4y

First, we would like to thank you for dedicating over 9 years of your career to Harbor Freight and we appreciate you sharing your feedback with us. We couldn’t agree more! Here at Harbor Freight, we are committed to your growth. We pride ourselves on creating an environment where our Associates have the opportunities to flourish and succeed. We highly encourage you to continue providing your suggestions and ideas as we strive to be the best place to work. Thank you for your continued hard work and we’re glad to have you on the team!

1.0

Jan 21, 2019

Toxic Environment

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits and compensation for upper management is good.

Cons

A very political environment which measures ones performance on perception alone. Even numerical indicators of performance can be perceived through upper management as “how one contributed” to that number. Several individuals within the company have too much influence on executive management that these opportunities are over looked!

Harbor Freight Tools Response

7y

First, we want to thank you for all your hard work at Harbor Freight Tools and for trusting us with your career for over 5 years. Please know that we are especially listening to feedback regarding management. Part of being a continuous improvement organization means listening to our Associates and learning as we grow every step of the way. We wish you the best in achieving your future career goals.

5.0

Sep 25, 2018

Store Manager

Store manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Store Manager Fast Track Training is thorough, well thought out, and very informative. Really great training investment, providing a lot of necessary tools to set you up for success. Manager Compensation is a little on the low end but can be made up with fair quarterly bonuses for SM and monthly bonuses for AM based on store performance. Starting wage for associates is fair in my market with opportunity to bonus bi-weekly with sales spiffs. Very great comp plan for all levels of associates to be rewarded and paid for performance!!! Benefits are FANTASTIC! Very adorable plans. Cheapest I have ever seen! Close at 8pm Mon-Sat and 6pm Sunday’s all year round. Closed Thanksgiving. Great hours for retail if you ask me! Rapidly growing company, very profitable, and competitive in our current challenged brick and mortar retail environment. Pricing is very competitive. In stock position is good. Great company mission with very structured pillars, training roadmaps, and core principles that all support the mission and align with each other. This type of structure is refreshing and encourages consistency across the brand. The training roadmap outlines the career path one could take to advance once mastering the necessary skills. Expanding and opening new stores all the time leaves a lot of opportunity for advancement. Great company to work for with A LOT of things they are working on to continuously improve. Our feedback is not only heard but prompt action is taken to do the right thing! Love working for Harbor Freight Tools!!!

Cons

The training for Assistant Managers and below is minimal in comparison to the investment put towards Store Managers and above. While the online training is thorough and lengthy, we should invest more into our future leaders (supervisors and assistant managers). Allocate payroll for all associate’s training. We allocate 4-6 weeks for SM and DM. This investment in associates would reduce our turnover. Payroll is tight as the case with most retail orgs but too tight at times, specifically with new stores and high workload weeks. Hiring is a challenge to say the least. Need to work on creating a first class hiring experience for our associates. Implementing recognition programs and retention programs could help keep our stores staffed. Overall, still a great company to work for. Focused on continuous improvement and truly acts with a sense of urgency to do the right thing for the employees!

Harbor Freight Tools Response

7y

We’re happy to hear you are having a positive experience with Harbor Freight Tools and appreciate you sharing it with us. We take all Associate comments into consideration, as we are always striving to improve. Your suggestions will help us make things better for you and your teammates. We look forward to watching your growth with us!

Viewing 49 - 51 of 3,439 Reviews

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