Pros
- Beautiful office - Company is growing with US expansion - That's it
Cons
Culture & Decision-Making - Company is run by lifers who have minimal experience in a normal workplace. To anyone who has worked in a normal corporate environment for a decent amount of time and has received an offer to join, be warned. That experience means nothing when you get here and will not help you in any way because Aritzia is so specific in how they do things and the people here only value how long you've been at the company for. Decisions are solely made by lifers, i.e. you will have no voice in the work you're accountable for. - Senior management does not address culture problems (e.g. lack of trust, honesty, and psychological safety), even though culture surveys repeatedly show it's an issue, because they're the exact same way and they simply do not care. You'll notice senior management tends to stay here a long time and typically didn't work much at other companies before this, i.e. they don't have a personal benchmark to understand how messed up the culture they've fostered is. A lot of the project managers on this team are a mix of insecure and highly controlling. Not sure if they started that way or they needed to become that to survive. They are toxic and will gossip about everyone (yes, everyone). - Staggering levels of attrition at the analyst/senior analyst level. It's a shame and Aritzia should be honest about this culture to potential hires, but they aren't because they need to keep up with the attrition. All they'll say is "we're high-performing", but that statement does not capture the toxicity that is so pervasive on the team. - Read the Business Insider article about the founder. Confident those are true based on the stories I have heard from current employees. Culture of fear is absolutely a thing and enables the worst behaviour in people that should be colleagues. Work-Life Balance - You won't have it, no matter how much you try to set boundaries. You're expected to clock in 45 hours a week just as a baseline, and you don't get overtime. The people that stay here a while don't have time for anything during the week (exercise, cooking). They have a very supportive partner propping things up or have chosen to not have kids. Look at Lululemon if you want some balance while getting similar exposure to the retail industry. Growth & Development - Management has no idea how to grow analysts and they skip through the e-training they're given. The only way to be promoted is to worship your manager and be a yes man. New approaches and innovation are not welcome or rewarded. Ask yourself how much you value your own self, the accomplishments/experiences/knowledge you bring, and the adversity you've overcome. - Company is growing and doing excellent financially in earnings calls but somehow is still facing tough times when it comes to performance and salary discussions? Give me a break. Office Environment - Office is in a dangerous area. Doesn't matter to the decision-makers (read: founder & C-suite) because they park right at the front entrance and don't need to deal with this themselves. Parking for the rest of the employees is an ongoing issue - there isn't enough of it and it can feel unsafe getting to your car. Transit is far and requires walking through sketchy streets without normal civilian foot traffic. There's an ongoing pilot program that will not address the root problem. - The commissary food is pricey and they skimp on protein. - Overall, it feels like a pig wearing lipstick.