- Stock distributions vest over the course of 4 years, with gradually increasing quarterly payments, so it doesn’t feel as impactful as it seems on paper. Very few people stay at the company that long so the return, while still helpful, is like being drip-fed tiny portions of which you never see a substantial amount.
- Health insurance is mid, at best. Even with the best plan options, the monthly employee copay, out of pocket costs, and annual maximums are very high.
- “Unlimited” PTO requires director-level approval to take more than two weeks off, and there’s a grind culture. While time off is available, there’s a sense that your work ethic is questioned for taking off more than a day or two here and there. This discourages people from actually making use of the policy.
- They are steadily restricting remote and hybrid flexibility.
- Constant org changes means constant leadership changes, and it seems like every new leader has something to prove, so teams are frequently reinventing the wheel. It can feel impossible to gain momentum toward anything tangible and there are no processes. Very chaotic work environment.
- The company motto “grow at Chewy” is a thing of the past - there aren’t career pathways for corporate or operations employees, and there is very little opportunity to grow outside of your current role into a (paid) position. They’ll offer you learning “opportunities” to take on “stretch roles” for “experience” by doing work outside your job duties and payroll (even if you have relevant experience from previous employment) that rarely or never lead to a promotion. I never saw it happen to anyone in the years I was there. Expect to stay in the same role you’re hired into.
- The culture highly depends on your leader, but is mostly toxic. People are fired or laid off with no warning, and then no explanation or information about their departure is shared with the rest of their team, leading to low morale and a sense of job insecurity. Leadership tends to be infantilizing. This creates an “est or be eaten” dynamic amongst teams that isn’t collaborative and feels very negative. While many individuals are nice people, this environment also attracts and retains people who will throw others under the bus to save themselves. Burnout rates are high.
- Toxic positivity. Being known for excellent customer service (which is true!), Chewy insists that it’s a reflection of the internal culture, but it’s not authentic internally. A lot is swept under the rug in the name of being “a great place to work,” meanwhile real culture issues are ignored, conversations about improvement are not authentic.
