I've never experience a more toxic, back-stabbing work environment in my entire career.
Pros
The pay and benefits are above average in the industry. The products are of decent quality. The commute is easy for anyone living in Marin County or San Francisco.
Cons
The only people who succeed at Restoration Hardware's Home Office are syncophants who never question anything said or done by the Co-CEO, Gary Friedman. The entire Home Office is a joke -- it's run like some childish popularity contest where you only succeed by back-stabbing your co-workers. There's no support from upper management as they are all only concerned with their own personal financial success. Even as they were doing three separate, massive layoffs in the course of less than two years (2007-2008) no one in upper management took a minimal pay cut or even considered it. There is completely wasteful spending on the part of Mr. Friedman that never allows for the proper level of staffing at the lower levels of Home Office -- some people work 60-70 hours a week while others enjoy daily two-hour lunches and don't even work 30 hours, even though they are salaried. This company will NEVER be successful until it cleans out the entire upper management team. And because it's such a toxic environment, the turnover rate is astronomically high as all the talented people have other options to find work elsewhere, so what you're left with are the less talented people who are stuck there becasue they can't get hired anywhere else. Sad.
