Terrible boss, terrible compensation, terrible raises, and terrible opportunities to advance for most employees. - Business Analyst Guitar Center Employee Review

1.0
10 Nov 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good discounts on musical gear, but I'm not a musician. People under the level of manager are normally good people to work with.

Cons

I have a boss who has made multiple employees under him quit and is still around. The company is a boys club and it's all about who you know. Company is controlled by Bain Capital so some people spend half their time updating Bain on progress instead of actually making progress on their projects. Employees, especially in higher up positions, are constantly "reorganized," resulting in some people being reorganized out of the organization.

Explore other reviews about Guitar Center

5.0
16 July 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Management takes good care of you

Cons

No complaints that I can think of

1.0
21 Apr 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Plenty of capable individual contributors doing real work. - The brand and the business itself are legitimate — the problems are organizational.

Cons

- Senior leadership is politically driven rather than outcome-driven. Strategic initiatives stall out, and leaders spend more energy assigning or shifting blame than actually diagnosing and fixing problems. - Some parts of the org operate on deference to the top. Honest assessments get softened into whatever narrative leadership wants to hear, which makes real cross-functional work difficult. - Senior leaders do not consistently advocate for their own teams. When things get political, self-preservation takes precedence over backing the people underneath, and capable managers end up exposed.

2
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