The Worst Companies to Work For

Source: M.O. Stevens / Wikimedia Commons

9. Rent-A-Center
> Rating: 2.5
> Pct. employees would recommend: 30%
> Employees: 20,100
> Industry: Home furnishings rentals

Rent-A-Center offers rental deals for items such as furniture, computers and appliances. The Plano, Texas-based company operates around 4,300 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. The company also appears to be one of the worst in the U.S. to work for. Less than a third of the current and former workers reviewing the company on Glassdoor say they would recommend a job at RAC to a friend. The average across all Glassdoor companies is 50%. One of the most common complaints about the organization is a poor work-life balance, as well as low pay. Just 27% of those submitting reviews approve of CEO Robert Davis’ management.

Source: Dwight Burdette / Wikimedia Commons

8. Hertz
> Rating: 2.5
> Pct. employees would recommend: 33%
> Employees: 36,000
> Industry: Car rental

Car rental company Hertz is one of the biggest players in the car rental business. Hertz also owns the Dollar and Thrifty brands and is second only to Enterprise Holdings in fleet size. While employees rank Enterprise a 3.4 out of 5.0 on Glassdoor, Hertz ranks at just 2.5, compared to an average of 3.3. Two out of every three employees say they would not recommend a job at the company to a friend. Common complaints submitted by employees include poor, inconsistent hours or being required to work late. Employees also commonly cite low pay and inattentive, unavailable management as issues.

24/7 Wall St.
America’s Safest Cars

Source: Wikimedia Commons

7. Forever 21
> Rating: 2.5
> Pct. employees would recommend: 32%
> Employees: 35,000
> Industry: Retail

Forever 21 is a retailer with about 600 U.S. locations, many of which are located in malls, and 35,000 employees. The company claims it is the fifth largest specialty retailer in the country. Forever 21 employees reviewing the company on Glassdoor complain of a too-small employee discount, low pay, and extremely high expectations from managers. Just 30% of those submitting reviews approve of the management style of company founder and CEO Don Chang.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

6. Dish
> Rating: 2.5
> Pct. employees would recommend: 32%
> Employees: 16,000
> Industry: Subscription television

Like many of the worst companies to work for, a significant portion of Dish’s workforce is engaged in customer service. Also similar to many companies on this list, but especially companies in the subscription television service industry, dissatisfied employees frequently report poor communication and lack of transparency from upper management.

Low employee satisfaction, which can lead to poor customer satisfaction, may help explain the company’s declining subscriber counts in recent years. The Fortune 200 company lost 226,000 customers in 2016 and ended the year with just under 13.7 million pay-TV customers. By March 2017 Dish had 13.53 million pay-TV subscribers.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

5. Sears Holdings
> Rating: 2.5
> Pct. employees would recommend: 29%
> Employees: 140,000
> Industry: Department stores

Sears, once an American icon known for changing the way Americans shopped with its Sears catalog, is now at the brink of collapse. Sears, which merged with Kmart in 2004, has lost money each year for a decade. Over the 12 months through January, Sears Holdings posted a net loss of $2.22 billion, surpassing its net losses in each of the previous two fiscal years.

Employees, feeling insecure in their jobs and seeing little future prospects have not been happy at Sears during its decline. And low employee morale certainly has not helped the company. Low pay, poor work-life balance, and excessive pressure to sell credit cards are among the most common complaints among former and current Sears employees.