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Paul Reed Smith Guitars

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Paul Reed Smith Guitars reviews

3.4

53% would recommend to a friend

(31 total reviews)

Jack Higginbotham

81% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Paul Reed Smith Guitars has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 31 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Paul Reed Smith Guitars employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

31 reviews
2.0
May 28, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Like minded employees that love music and guitars with a passion. -Perfect attendance raffle every month for a chance to win a SE guitar -After 2 years(7, 15, etc.) of employment you get to order/help build a custom USA core guitar(or S2). You get to pick out the model, wood, and color of guitar. You just pay the cost of materials. -Monthly raffle for gas card or company swag out of prize closet.

Cons

-Early start time(7am sharp). Paul does know we are musicians right? -Outdated 80 point discipline system. Get 80 points and you are fired. For example 16 points for calling in sick or needing a personal day after 7am. 8 points if you call in before 7am. So it is very easy to add up points. -Employees are treated like robots. No sick leave. They are not suppose to get sick or be in pain. Although the work load I saw and personally experienced, working in pain was not out of the ordinary. -Employees used as scapegoats for mistakes they did not make to cover for incompetent managers. -Not much upward mobility, just lateral moves. Cross trained employees help the company, not the employee. -Weird favoritism. Incompetent employees make mistakes time after time and are never fired. Other employees have to put out the fire and fix the problems created by that employee. Some employees are allowed to goof off and take multiple smoke breaks a day. Others(ones who have their nose to the grindstone the whole day) are scolded for talking to another employee for a couple minutes. -Raises are very small and do not match the effort put out by the employee. -The employee manual will tell you the minimum amount of pieces you must produce each day to be an acceptable employee. But in my experience you did double or more of the minimum because the company always being in backorder status. No compensation for the additional pieces we were constantly producing. -Extremely high employee turnover rate means you have to constantly help train new employees while still trying to do your regular work.

3.0
Jul 8, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work alongside a true genius and living legend. Meet fascinating people that have been in the musical instrument manufacturing business for decades. Very skilled and creative people putting their blood, sweat, and tears into flawless products. Solid work/life balance. Talent does move up in the company, often to very cool positions.

Cons

A very blunt and personal management culture may require some getting used to if you come over from a different industry or the corporate world.

3.0
Mar 5, 2014

Lots of ups and downs

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people. Great product. Relaxed culture and creative environment that you'd expect to find in a music industry company. Benefits are OK.

Cons

Not the greatest at people management in terms of development. You must be a self motivated person if you want to grow from within the company.

Viewing 25 - 27 of 31 Reviews

Glassdoor has 32 Paul Reed Smith Guitars reviews submitted anonymously by Paul Reed Smith Guitars employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Paul Reed Smith Guitars is right for you.