Costco

My comments reflect only my experience in Costco's IT department.

• For some teams/people, flexible hours and work/life balance (40-hour work week).
• Job security; Costco has not ever laid people off at the home office.
• You work at one of the most stable, generous retailers in the world.
• The medical benefits are cheap and generous.

My comments reflect only my experience in Costco's IT department.

• Seniority-based culture rather than a meritocracy, similar to working in a union.
• On some teams, some people are overworked while others leave early all the time and do little work.
• Only 2 weeks of vacation to start until 5 years, non-negotiable.
• No stock options or bonuses for IT employees.
• Salaries and raises are lower than average; we lost many potential good hires to that.
• Very low 401k match and few perks until more seniority is reached.
• Full telecommuting schedules are not permitted and it is generally frowned upon even on an ad hoc basis.
• Very slow, bureaucratic environment.
• 10k maximum relocation allowance for non-management employees, which might be tough for bigger moves/families.
• There are a lot of old technology (AS/400 and RPG) IT employees who know nothing else and are modern technology illiterate.
• There are a lot of people who started in warehouses who are now in IT and have little/no formal IT training or outside experience.
• Lots of bad decisions about software packages and putting everything in the cloud.
• Lots of projects languish past their due date or are canceled and/or restarted halfway through.
• If the warehouse workers knew about the waste going on in the home office, they would riot, since they work hard.
• Lots of managers who should not be in leadership positions.
• Senior employees/management are very resistant to change.
• The executive management is not rallying the troops, and morale is very low in most groups.

• Understand that to attract good IT employees, you need to change pay, telecommuting, and vacation policies.
• Give some folks early retirement incentives and, in their place, hire more modern technology talent.
• Find managers who are true leaders.