The Zappos Family reviews

Very cult-like in the way that they hire, train and operate. From the moment you step in the building on your first day, "they" (the training/management team, other faithful people in the company) are watching you, to see how you interact with other employees to see how loyal you are to the company, I'm assuming. I feel like you really have to drink the Kool-Aid to make it through training, let alone stay with the company for any period of time. Touching on the fact that Zappos wants you to be loyal- I understand that the culture they're trying to build is important to them, but if I am looked down upon for not hanging out with my team for a mandatory amount of time a week when I'd rather spend my free time with framily and friends, isn't really making me a better person, but a better Zapponian (which won't get me too far in the real world). In this company, you can move up fast, if you kiss butt, drink your daily dose of Zappo-Aid and don't stray too far out of line. It's a fun company to work for on the outside, but it comes with a price once you're in the company. Another messed up thing that I noticed was that when you're in the middle of the long (six month process for me) hiring process, they hype up the company and have a good time with the whole thing, which was cool. but what they DON'T tell you is that once you quit your job and situate your life around Zappos, you first have to complete a month long training program, which has several tests that you have to pass, otherwise they let you go. As in you do not have a job with them anymore. Once you "graduate" the training program, you move on the the Incubation program, which puts you in the call center on the phones while being heavily monitored. Once again, there are more tests to pass, otherwise you'll lose your job there. If I had known that there was a good chance that they'd pull out the "not a good fit" firing card at any time, or that I would fail a test and lose my income, I would've never signed on with Zappos.

Prospective employees beware. The Zappos that exists is 2025 is not the culture-fueled, industry-challenging, customer-first company that Tony Hsieh built. I encourage those looking into open roles to research the hundreds of employees (many of whom were employed for 5, 10, 15+ years) who were laid off, pushed out, or quit due to tanking morale. - Zappos' once renowned culture is now nonexistent. Zappos was known for employee benefits, meaningful engagement opportunities and events, and top-tier vendor relationships. This is no longer the case and future employees should be prepared to join an Amazon-adjacent culture instead. Future employees should expect a 5-day in-office schedule with very limited meaningful engagement opportunities. - Leadership is lacking. Just because someone has been in a role for X amount of years does not mean they are capable of leading hundreds. Current leadership does not appear to care about employees and it is quite obvious that they don't care about Zappos either as most are in dual Shopbop x Zappos roles. - Company goals and value props are unclear. Zappos’ previous 365-day return policy, friends and family coupons, wide product and brand assortment, and most importantly the incomparable customer service experience have all been deprecated. Instead of investing in our key customers and their shopping experience, priority is given to influencer partnerships from Bravo and the Bachelor franchise (whose followers are most definitely not shopping on Zappos). - Please note: Scott Schaefer hasn't been the CEO for over a year. While Scott was put in a challenging position by Amazon, Scott was first and foremost a Zapponian at heart who tried his best to continue Tony’s legacy during Amazon’s destruction. It raises questions that Kim Fleissner (current Zappos and Shopbop CEO) hasn't been updated on Glassdoor considering she has had little to no interaction with employees since taking on the role.