- Pace: The industry and this company in particular moves so fast that you have to be available at all times. My work/life balance has suffered greatly due to always being available and having to respond immediately - from receiving emails all weekend to being called five minutes after an email is sent just to "follow up", it feels like the entire company is constantly in a state of frenzy.
- Unrealistic Workload: Headcount is often cut and roles not backfilled to save money. This results in one individual doing two roles, which isn't sustainable. I've had many coworkers leave because they simply couldn't keep up with the work expected of them.
- Pay: Pay is not as good as it could be in such a competitive area like SF. Nowhere near the money being offered by tech companies.
- Meeting-centric culture: We don't need meetings for everything. Just email. I can't tell you the amount of time I've spent in pointless meetings.
- Location: Mission Bay is a nightmare to get to and from due to construction and traffic, and is only going to get worse when the Warriors move in. Parking takes months to get a pass to the garage ($175/month) and public transit is terrible.
- Reactionary: Due to the speed you have to operate as a fast fashion retailer, decisions by upper management are often knee-jerk after a couple of bad days of business and can have intense ripple effects for lower levels (headcount cuts, hiring freezes, etc.)
- Open office: This is both a pro and a con. It fosters a fun and collaborative atmosphere, but can be so distracting and impossible to focus with people dropping by your desk constantly or speaking loudly on the phone. All new hires should get noise-canceling headphones when they join :)
- Portfolio Brand: Also a pro and a con. You have the resources of a greater organization at your fingertips, but if business is bad at one brand, business is bad for everyone. Old Navy is by far the highest performer in the enterprise but we're constantly bearing the consequences of bad business by other brands (i.e. budget cuts).
Other Cons: Location. Forced PTO the week between Christmas and New Years. Limited company holidays due to business needs. Non-pet friendly office. Location. Did I mention location?
