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      Harbor Freight Tools

      Engaged Employer

      Harbor Freight Tools reviews

      3.6

      63% would recommend to a friend

      (3,451 total reviews)
      avatar

      Eric Smidt

      67% approve of CEO

      58% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Harbor Freight Tools has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 3,451 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).

      Reviews by job title

      3K reviews
      2.0
      Oct 23, 2020

      Do Not Work Here - Worse culture than Amazon

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      If you’re an experienced corporate professional, you will be compensated well. Both base and bonus are above market, in many areas.

      Cons

      Leaders treat all Associates like they are disposable. No transparency about work contributions for other team members. Any professional with experience is made to feel incompetent if they don’t fall in line with what current leaders say. Leaders are pushed out of the business if they don’t let others take credit for their work. At the corporate level, minorities are not offered opportunities and are often held back from advancement. Expectation for 24 hour accessibility, even when on PTO or sick leave. No concern for employees health or well being, even when told repeatedly about issues. No leadership training and no job training exists for corporate roles. Corporate associates are hired in at a level and stay in the same position for years. Instead of developing existing hires, others are hired in over them. Very few promotion opportunities exist with no clear path for how to be promoted since there is no training or roadmap. Mentorship is non existent. Group think leads to a vacuum. No accountability for senior leadership despite year after year of poor employee engagement surveys.

      avatar
      Harbor Freight Tools Response
      5y
      Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback with us. We appreciate you trusting Harbor Freight with your career for over 5 years. We would not be able to accomplish all that we do without hardworking associates like yourself. At Harbor Freight, we value people above all else; who you are, what you’ve experienced, and how you see the world. We understand that our culture may not be the right fit for everyone, but we pride ourselves on creating a welcoming environment where our associates have the opportunity to flourish and succeed. We encourage you to reach out to your HR Partner, HR Hotline at (800) 693-8377, or please email me at culture@harborfreight.com to discuss your concerns. Thank you for your continued hard work and we look forward to watching you grow with us.
      4.0
      Mar 10, 2020

      Sales Supervisor/ Key carrier

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Environment is easy to learn and great path to success . Had the opportunity to train at a nearby store prior to our new store opening in July. If you are a quick learner and enjoy working with customers that love working with tools this is a great place to work and grow. Great experience with company, great programs to grow with in the company

      Cons

      Very little monitoring of schedules by upper management (DM). No real work life balance unless you are store manager. Store Manager never works night so as a key carrier you will be expected to close most nights. I close store 10 out of 14 of my shifts as a Sales Supervisor. The other shifts are normally till 7pm. Never make it home for dinner with family.

      avatar
      Harbor Freight Tools Response
      6y
      Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We agree that providing comprehensive training and growth opportunities for our associates makes us stand out. Harbor Freight is dedicated to Continuous Improvement for our stores. We encourage associates who have questions or concerns about their schedule or team to reach out to their HR Partner or our HR Hotline. We wish you the best on your career journey!
      2.0
      Jan 3, 2020

      Overall hft has gone downhill!

      Store manager
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      I started at hft over 4 years ago. The first 2 years were great. Good benefits decent pay. The structure was solid. You came into work knowing exactly what was expected of you and hft followed the sop strictly.

      Cons

      Hft now uses an automated schedule system for labor. This system was untested poorly executed and the calculations for support are so far off you can never achieve payroll goals. On top of implementing a new system they have little to no traing at all. Often times just throwing people into a position with just some very basic videos to use as training. What's worse is hft doesn't believe in training hours so dont expect to be trained. What's worse than all of that is they have updated to new systems and they use policies from 2012 that are so far behind the new systems they use, that its nearly impossible to keep up. Again lack of any training. When I first started it was easy to hold someone accountable for not performing thier job. So much has changed that leadership on the store is no liable for any and all mistakes made. You will be termed before an associate will. It only takes 2 associates to accuse you of anything and you will be termed. Been there done that. The amount of corporate greed is out of control. Dont expect support it will fall on def ears.

      avatar
      Harbor Freight Tools Response
      6y
      First, we want to thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback with us and for trusting Harbor Freight Tools with your career for over 5 years. We wouldn’t be able to accomplish all that we do without hardworking associates like yourself, and we want you to know that we greatly value you and your feedback. We’re committed to continuously improving our stores and becoming a great place to work. We can assure you that any improvements we’ve made, such as our time-keeping system, had a significant amount of time and thought invested in them. Harbor Freight Tools values people above all else, and any change we implement is designed with our people first – always. We are also committed to training our associates, and if any associate ever feels like they need more training or support, we encourage them to reach out to their HR Partner. We also want you to know that there are a few ways you can reach out for additional support. You can call our HR Hotline at (800) 693-8377 or email myself directly at culture@harborfreight.com to share your concerns. We are here to help you, and we want you to know that your concerns are being heard. Thank you again for sharing, and we look forward to watching you grow with the team.
      Viewing 148 - 150 of 3,451 Reviews
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      ReviewsHarbor Freight Tools reviews

      Glassdoor has 3,498 Harbor Freight Tools reviews submitted anonymously by Harbor Freight Tools employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Harbor Freight Tools is right for you.