Corporate office is highly toxic, scandalous, unethical - Corporate Office Associate Petco Employee Review

1.0
7 Sept 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

None. It will steal your soul. Not that they pay competitively, but no amount of money is worth spending a day in the horrid environment.

Cons

Leadership does not care one iota about employee morale, which happens to be critical for a company's success. Not in the corporate office or stores. Aside from the stripping of aspects that makes working here "fun", (holiday parties, summer picnics, onsite cafe, employee club), greed has led to huge portions of the company being outsourced to India and the Philippines, including payroll and HR functions. And it's been done without communicating to employees. You call the IT help desk one day and the person who answers is in your building. Call the next day and someone in the Philippines answers! Does that sound like leadership you'd like to work under? Doing things in the middle of the night, literally. The pay for all but the very top level executives is at the low end of the lowest range. The benefits are virtually non-existent. Medical is a horrible consumer-driven PPO. Hardly anything other than annual exam is covered. It's like being uninsured or self-insured. Employee discount is minimal compared to the highest prices in the industry. We are not allowed to order office supplies. Department VP suggested raiding empty cubes (from all the people who lost jobs to overseas) instead. All while executive VP collects a bonus in excess of $8 million. Positions are filled in a shell-game style. Not until very recently were positions posted internally. Existing employees are discouraged or black-balled for exploring options on other teams. You put a target on your back if you dare to consider moving into another role. Training is non-existent. Onboarding process is woeful. The only real way to survive this culture is way ghost protocol (way under the radar) or to come up with another way to send jobs overseas. Those who do are handsomely rewarded.

Explore other reviews about Petco

5.0
6 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good environment and great people

Cons

There is no cons here

1.0
18 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

DM is a good person who genuinely wants to support the stores, but unfortunately he’s also caught in the middle of all this chaos.

Cons

Literally EVERYTHING! • Extremely limited payroll stores are frequently staffed with only two employees for an entire day, which is not sustainable. • Leadership appears disconnected from store level operations, with little clear direction. Initiatives often feel reactive, as if decisions are being tested without a consistent long term strategy. • Expansion into non pet related products raises concerns about the company’s financial health and overall focus. • Workload is overwhelming, with planogram changes happening frequently sometimes multiple times within the same week. • IT systems are unreliable, and when issues arise, store teams are expected to find workarounds rather than receiving timely support. • Animal care no longer seems to be a top priority at the corporate level. Current setups (e.g., “Desk Pets”) appear inconsistent with the company’s own care standards and guidelines.

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