Kohl's reviews

3.3

53% would recommend to a friend

(20,286 total reviews)
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Michael J. Bender

61% approve of CEO

33% positive business outlook

Kohl's has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 20,286 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Kohl's employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

20K reviews
2.0
Jan 16, 2016

Not what I had hoped for

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Kohl's supports a healthy lifestyle that you are rewarded for. Kevin Mansell and Michelle Gass seem to truly care about the employees and future of Kohl's.

Cons

Although the pros are wonderful, they are not what's important when you are trying to fulfill a dream and do what you're passionate about. When I interviewed I was told of all of the wonderful opportunities for advancement. This simply is not true. Kohl's loves their Big 10 college grads and if you intern there, you're golden. Not so true if you come to Kohl's later in your career. If you start at the bottom of the ladder, it's a hard climb. As people come and go, you are often training those in positions above you with zero incentive or reward. There are many managers that simply do not belong in management positions. Kohl's is often aware of this but nothing is done. They also say you are in control of your career but this is not true. You don't go anywhere without your managers blessing so you'd better hope they like you. It is not uncommon for people to leave Kohl's because they are not getting promoted, work elsewhere and then come back to Kohl's at the next level. It seems Kohl's would rather their employees leave than appreciate them so they don't leave in the first place. There is very much a social hierarchy and a lot of favoritism. If you're not "in the club", you're probably not getting in. I do not believe this is true for every department but this is definitely true in product development and the merchant side.

2.0
Jan 10, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are a lot of great people who are good at what they do. It's an encouraging environment to work in as a female professional since there are a lot of women in higher level and managerial positions.

Cons

Freelancers work alongside full-time employees and do the exact same jobs, except are treated like high school temps instead of talented professionals (e.g. given sub-par working conditions/spaces compared to FTEs, not informed of initiatives, changes that affect us). This isn't necessarily a choice of the individual team managers, but more of a company-wide effort to separate contractors from FTEs because of the slippery legal situation using contractors in this way creates due to "common law employee" rules. Contractors work there for years, gaining more and more responsibility, yet have no hope of ever being hired on or even given a raise in their hourly rate. On my team, contractors outnumber the FTEs and have a high degree of responsibility, so whenever we lose someone, it throws a huge wrench in our daily operations. Morale is non-existent.

3.0
Dec 31, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good way to start out a career and gain an understanding of what a badfit of a company culture might look like (if you're looking to work somewhere innovative.) The benefits, perks, (gym + discounts + holiday vacation) are all great! On the outside the company's "Purpose" does appear to be a good thing and there are genuinely good people that work there.

Cons

Very traditional company to a fault. Difficult to advance in a career. Does not provide a a flexible environment to work in. Too many cooks in the kitchen. Leadership lacks design thinking knowledge and openness to more effective or efficient processes. Departments are siloed and too often politics get in the way. The company's "Purpose" sounds wonderful, but the only measure of success seems to be sales. Creative roles and creativity do not seem to be valued. 10% of the people do 90% of the work.

Viewing 205 - 207 of 20,286 Reviews

Glassdoor has 21,457 Kohl's reviews submitted anonymously by Kohl's employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Kohl's is right for you.