Run far away - Anonymous employee Cotopaxi Employee Review

1.0
Aug 20, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Unfortunately, no pros come to mind any longer.

Cons

This company is in a downward spiral on a whole new level and it is so sad to see. Cotopaxi recently went through a second layoff in 6 months and let go of more amazing people. The business feels extremely unstable right now, led by people who are not aligned on priorities which continues to create waves of chaos that cascade to the people below who are in the thick of all the work. Some senior leaders came from outside the outdoor industry and it's very obvious they do not understand this industry, its consumers and how to navigate industry relationships. And pair that with them being unwilling to listen to those on their teams who have industry experience, makes it a frustrating experience. A lot of great talent who were not laid off have left to pursue other opportunities because the work environment is extremely chaotic and frustrating with last-minute changes, insufficient bandwidth and resources, lack of clear direction, and not being heard by stubborn leaders with egos or who are terrible people managers. Most employees who are left are currently looking for other jobs. Gone are the days where Cotopaxi cares about "Doing Good", it is truly all just a numbers game for hitting revenue targets, and that goal comes at any cost, including working their employees into the ground and treating them very poorly.

avatar
Cotopaxi Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your candid thoughts and advice here, and please feel free to reach out to the Cotopaxi People Operations team if you would like to talk more, as we are deeply committed to our mission and people-first culture and want to be able to find solutions together. We recognize that this year has been a challenging one, for Cotopaxi and many outdoor industry brands, and many people are working tirelessly to maintain the integrity of the Cotopaxi brand, mission and culture. We greatly appreciate your own dedication and input and hope that the recent additions to our leadership team as well as those working on the ground, help solve some of the issues you mentioned. Again, our door is open and would appreciate your consideration of 1:1 time with the People Operations team.

Explore other reviews about Cotopaxi

5.0
Apr 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Cotopaxi provides a strong sense of purpose that genuinely connects to day-to-day operations. The company empowers teams to build structure, improve performance, and drive meaningful change. ring my time here, Changes that have been made: strengthen team stability, elevate accountability, and implement processes that improved SLA performance, and enhanced safety. Leadership supports growth, and there is a real emphasis on building people and promoting from within.

Cons

The company is in the midst of a meaningful culture evolution toward stronger accountability and performance. As with any change, not everyone adapts at the same pace, which can create short-term challenges in team alignment.

avatar
Cotopaxi Response
1mo
Thank you for sharing this, and for the specific callouts around accountability, team stability, and promoting from within. Those aren't small things, and it's meaningful to hear they're showing up in your experience. Change is rarely seamless, and we appreciate the honest framing of that. Building a culture of strong performance and accountability while bringing people along at the same time is real work and feedback like this helps us stay focused on doing it well. Thanks for being part of driving that forward!
5.0
Mar 22, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I've worked at a number of companies throughout my career and having seen a number of different cultures and working styles, feel very fortunate to have landed at Cotopaxi. I felt like I should make a post here after a friend of mine pointed out our Glassdoor rating when I said I was having a great time so far. The people and team I work with are excellent. It's a healthy positive culture, there's no politics, information hoarding, or some of the other baggage that you can find. It's genuinely a great group of people trying to do great things for the customer and the company. The management team is accessible and generally very nice. I've worked with mercurial CEOs and crony executive teams who kept everyone on eggshells and would jump on people any chance they had. Cotopaxi is very, very definitely not that place. They seem thoughtful and try to do the right things but I also know that there have been some hard decisions made in the past year, and not everyone has been happy about them. My exec team member has been very open to hearing feedback and it seems like they're listening. So overall a great experience thus far and look forward to being here for much, much longer.

Cons

Honestly, the management team could be a bit more organized in planning more than a few weeks ahead to help everyone have time to do their best work, but this is one of the things that they're listening to and I feel like it's getting better.

avatar
Cotopaxi Response
1mo
This just made our day! Thank you for sharing it. We know the Glassdoor rating doesn't always capture what it actually feels like to work here day-to-day, so we're really glad you took the time to write it out. The culture you're describing - people who genuinely care, leadership that listens - is something we work hard to maintain as we grow. It's not always easy, but it matters to us deeply. We're lucky to have you on the team. Here's to many more months ahead!
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All