NETGEAR reviews

2.6

29% would recommend to a friend

(318 total reviews)

CJ Prober

57% approve of CEO

32% positive business outlook

NETGEAR has an employee rating of 2.6 out of 5 stars, based on 318 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The NETGEAR employee rating is 32% below average for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

318 reviews
1.0
Aug 2, 2015

Practice what you preach

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good insurance, free soda, free oatmeal, coffee, tea, popcorn and sparkling water. Sometimes free bagels. Decent workout room.

Cons

Sub-par pay for worker-bees. No opportunities for advancement and/or rewards based on merit. There are no ethics in the company. CEO allows upper management to openly fraternize with subordinates, and enormous increases and new job opportunities given to unqualified, provocatively dressed employees with no experience. Inside, non-advertised jobs with no competitive interviews. Promotions based on genuine merit and skill are non-existent. You need to leave to get paid what you’re worth. No new innovation. Cheap products that are not well-thought-out and rushed to market with bugs and lousy packaging. CEO allows notoriously bad behavior in upper management.

2.0
Apr 17, 2017

Skilled pros need not apply.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice medical plan. Free food and drinks, onsite gym.

Cons

Work/life balance is a fairy tale. Reactive management instead of proactive. Most managers (at least at carlsbad location) suffer from extreme mirco-management syndrome. Somehow these inadequate "leaders" not only are allowed to keep their positions, but get promotions. Do not question anything, you will be replaced by 3 people whom you must train, whose combined salary and talent does not equal your own. If you are a serious professional there are many better options in the San Diego area.

1.0
Feb 11, 2017

Needs a shakeup in management

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some of management does seem to care about their people. The RF team at NETGEAR really are second to none, and the reason why the company still survives after this many years. They recently renovated the office. So, it's not nearly as 1980s and depressing inside as it used to be. That said, it hasn't made a huge difference to the culture of the place.

Cons

NETGEAR is a company that badly needs to change to reflect modern networking, and changes in the industry as a whole. Their product portfolio is based on pumping out new hardware without changing software. Arlo is really the bright star in the current portfolio, but they need to invest a lot more in the remainder of the business. They seem to have decided that they can't do software at all, so why even try? Long term, it's going to kill the business. Work environment is pretty terrible too. Most of the company ends up working Taiwanese hours as that's where engineering is based. So, expect to work 9-7 or 9-8 depending on when your meetings are over. Senior management gives their people little to no freedom for any autonomy. You are expected to execute based on their plan, and then you are judged solely on the results of their plan. If they chose wrong, your bonus is what's cut. Pay is pretty significantly below market rate, which is a problem given that everyone in the Bay Area is hiring. Company as a whole is not data driven either. Management makes product decisions based on gut feeling, rather than data. This leads to some overly risky moves in areas and not making any moves in others (see: software). Meetings at NETGEAR are hilarious. Everyone gets massive amounts of email (200+ messages when you come in every morning). So, no one actually has any time to do anything other than check email. Meetings are usually a bunch of people sitting around a table checking their email not listening to the one person talking. Also, they love meetings. So, you can't really get anything done if you pay attention in meetings anyways. Work load is pretty high as well. You end up doing 3-4 peoples jobs just to keep the lights on, and it never ends.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 318 Reviews

Glassdoor has 421 NETGEAR reviews submitted anonymously by NETGEAR employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if NETGEAR is right for you.