Sweetwater reviews

4.1

80% would recommend to a friend

(541 total reviews)
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Mike Clem

89% approve of CEO

74% positive business outlook

Sweetwater has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 541 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Sweetwater employee rating is 21% above average for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

541 reviews
3.0
Mar 20, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good discounts on gear, good facility to work out of, lots of like minded musicians around you.

Cons

Old school management style that at some point will NEED to be adjusted. In addition, there was a massive commission structure change, which resulted in most people either losing money (or at the very least having to work much harder for the money they were making) during a time where inflation was at its highest in years. Lack of work from home opportunities even the the tech is in place to do so. Way to many meetings that could be condensed into a video to watch on our own time, or just aren't necessary altogether.

3.0
Sep 23, 2022

Work is Life

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The training is amazing. You will know more about audio in a couple years than most engineers.plus the benefits are great.

Cons

My hours were 8-6 Mon, 10-8 Tues, 12-9 Wed, 7:30-6 Thurs, 9-6 Fri, and every third weekend. They can make you work more than 40 hours because you are on commission. The pay will be great after a few years, but it is always 90% luck. It fully depends on what customer calls to order. New coworkers could be making double what you make and doesn’t work nearly as hard. If you are late by 1 min more than 10 times annually, you are fired. If you are sick, the clinic makes you stay home for days until all of your PDO are gone. If you have a vacation scheduled, you have to work weekends to make up your days, cancel vacation, or get fired. Everyone at Sweetwater got COVID because everyone obviously came to work when sick. Also, the # of women in audio should be around 5%. Last I counted, there were a total of 8 women in sales and 0 of them managers. Not many of the men have degrees, but nearly all of the women do. Sweetwater puts customers away over employees. Finally, Fort Wayne is not a great place to live.

2.0
Dec 2, 2020

It's Okay

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You're around musicians all day which can be cool, but not when everyone is stuck in a cubicle

Cons

Unless you are a white, straight male with very conservative views, this is not the place for you

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Sweetwater Response
5y
Thanks for your review. We agree that being around so many fellow musicians and their passion for music is a great part of the Sweetwater culture. There is nothing quite like being on a team that is helping our customers (and many of our employees) fulfill their musical dreams! Regarding your "cons" concerns, it's very important to us that everyone feels welcome at Sweetwater. We have very clear non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and every single employee is required to go through training on these when they start with us. In the past year, we've also invited in an array of diverse speakers to talk with our employees about everything from diversity & inclusion issues to mental health and employee wellbeing concerns. In addition, we have many women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community doing excellent work in management and leadership positions across our company and affiliate companies. There is of course always more work that can be done but I'm very proud of how well our team members welcome and respect individuals from many diverse backgrounds and beliefs. If you'd ever like to share more with me about your experience, I'd be happy to talk more. - Jeff Ostermann, Chief People Officer
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Glassdoor has 571 Sweetwater reviews submitted anonymously by Sweetwater employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Sweetwater is right for you.