Working at Mattel is like living through a "Signs of a Failing Company" listicle - Anonymous employee Mattel Employee Review

2.0
Jul 5, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Half-day Fridays (all year!), phenomenal benefits (401K matching, health, dental, etc.), great El Segundo campus amenities (gym, daycare, dry cleaning, etc.), fun colleagues, and a work culture that really likes to celebrate the holidays.

Cons

A ridiculously top-heavy organization with leaders of questionable ability (Google "Mattel CFO" and "phishing scam" for a good laugh). I wouldn't recommend for anyone under a Director level because that's roughly the level when your thoughts & opinions are finally considered. Until that title, expect your workdays to involve resolving infighting among cross-functional partners, trying to align with the many levels of leadership, manually updating Excel spreadsheets in lieu of proper systems, and creating tons of PowerPoint presentations for internal meetings. Aside from that, there's the constant chaos - from the mass exodus of talent to the regular reorgs, there's a running joke internally that "If you don't like something, just wait a few months". This sounds amusing until you realize what it means is that nobody knows what's going on because you're either onboarding new talent, working with new talent on other teams, or trying to figure out the latest dynamics of the org structure of the moment. Other things people care about: Work/life balance is totally dependent on your team and your boss; it varies dramatically from team to team. Promotions are fairly easy to come by, put in ~2yrs and you're on your way up. Rotations to other teams/divisions used to be a selling point of the company but with so many people leaving, managers are more and more reluctant to let people rotate internally.

Explore other reviews about Mattel

5.0
Feb 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Mattel is a notable name and you get to work with some really great brands.

Cons

Strict in-office policy, 4 days in-office.

4.0
Jul 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits if you get hired.

Cons

They mostly hire temp employees so they don’t have to pay benefits, but you aren’t temp. You are full time.

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