Gaslit management - Manager Trek Bicycle Employee Review

1.0
Jul 7, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Cafe, riding culture if you're in to that

Cons

Management constantly tells you if you work hard you'll be recognized but that isn't true. If you're not in "the club" you'll be constantly overlooked. If seen so many people put in amazing work and then leave because of how there were treated. Trek switch to "performance based reviews and merit raises" a few years ago so they could stop giving regular merit raises. When you finally get one, it amounts to less than you would have gotten if you had just gotten 2% every year, but they get to make a big deal about it that way. Pay is far below Madison averages and benefits are not competitive. Also do not care about developing employees. Literal quote from the CEO about their Great Places to Work Score "Do you want to know how to raise your score? Fire all the unhappy people!" They consistently score low on compensation and benefits and refuse to address it - they spend all their time focusing on where they scored well but will never talk about how they can improve where they did poorly.

Explore other reviews about Trek Bicycle

5.0
Jun 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great culture, decent work like balance

Cons

No room for growth, bike industry is going down hill

1.0
Feb 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people you work with are awesome. If you don't make some lifelong friends here, you're probably doing something wrong.

Cons

A few years ago, there was a change at TREK. It didn't happen quickly, but the culture started to change as the industry started to return to pre-covid business. Many of the people that helped shape TREK's amazing culture started to leave. Those that stayed endure brutal layoffs and report to people that now exist in their positions only for their own self-interest. You have to understand that TREK was not a company that many people used to leave. The direction of the company feels uncertain. Leadership seems to care little about retaining long term employees. They have let so many people go in different fields that a lot of day-to-day operations seem to slow down. Purchasing customers also led to a major shift in how the company runs today. It's much less calculated, and directional changes in how the company operates seem to happen with no notice and with poor planning. TREK will eventually find it's path forward, but it's doing so at a steep cost - the loss of dedicated and loyal employees that were there for the mission and future of the company. They brought integrity, (real) brutal honesty and vision for what the company could be. The only thing keeping TREK in it's market leading position today is simply how poorly the rest of the cycling industry is doing right now.

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