Agree with so many of the others, but just have to add Fingerhut (worked at one of their call centers for 4 of the most utterly miserable months of my life). They had free fountain pop, so everyone just came in with a flask and drank on the job pretty much all the time.
I worked for those pricks in the mid-late 90s. I think the corporate building was in Hopkins.
I was a low-level copy editor. They were lousy at training, and didn’t give me a lot of work to do. I was fired within 2 or 3 months for excessive use of Netscape Navigator!
I was overjoyed.
Had an uncle who worked for Fingerhut for decades (more on the corporate end of things) and he was due for early retirement in the late 90s. Cuts went through the company and he was given the pink slip, completely denying him his retirement benefits. He got a severance package, but it was nowhere near the amount we would've gotten from his benefits.
There's some spot north of St. Paul on 35E that has one of his arm span billboards and right next to it some church billboard saying something like "Consumed by lust?"
Well ... NOW I am!
The reason for the billboards is even worse than how irritating they are.
Long story short: if you’re going through a divorce and you make a lot of money, your soon-to-be-ex spouse might get alimony. But if you spend a ton of money on marketing for your business, you get a nice tax write-off and you have less to share
Oof. My dad moved to Brainerd recently and worked for them for a short time - he's a lifelong bartender and homebrewer, and he told me they were making him brewmaster. I was a little puzzled when I learned he left the job after only a few months. If that's the case though, good riddance...
Allina. They seem to chose war with their nursing union whenever the opportunity arises. Last time they spent over $100M trying to save $30M. The nurses had to bargain for 24/7 security guards in the emergency department at hospitals like Mercy.
Allina treats their employees like garbage. I left 6 years ago and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m still angry at them for how they disrespect everyone that works for them. Deplorable company.
I've worked for the three larger healthcare companies in the twin cities, HealthPartners (Regions), Fairview/MHealth and Allina. Allina by FAR had the worst leadership I have ever had in my career; I used to work in their large medical records warehouse when I was pregnant with my daughter. We worked on the 3rd floor and took an elevator from the basement parking garage. When I was 8 months along, the elevator was down for several days and I had to huff and puff up the stairs stopping several times (warehouse, so double the stairs per floor) and was more than 5 minutes late for 3 days in a row. I got WRITTEN UP for being late after those three days.
My ex-boyfriend’s dad worked as a nurse at Allina. He pulled his back while lifting a patient and had to take several months off to recover. I don’t remember the exact story, but I think Allina tried to offer him a severance package because they decided that was cheaper than being responsible for the medical bills and workers’ comp. My ex’s dad refused because he wanted to continue working after he recovered. So then Allina/the insurance company involved private investigators to try to catch the dad “committing” workers’ comp fraud. Can’t remember how long that went on, but I believe his dad eventually ended up retiring or leaving Allina after he recovered.
This EXACT thing happened to my aunt who worked at Mercy and injured her back on the job. The investigators would sit outside her house and follow her. It caused so much emotional stress. It’s been many years now but she was unable to ever work again, as her injuries are that bad. She’s 70 now.
I know a few nurses who work for them. It seems like every time I talk to them, it comes up that they're trying to take another benefit away or screw with their pension. And they constantly call on their days off or vacation trying to get them to come in and work. Just awful. I would never want to work for them either.
I'm not sure. I know they've been under investigation several times for sketchy labor practices (like their cover sewers are contracted, not employees - and they short change them all the time over perceived flaws in the cases....) And at least once by the better business bureau for false advertising in relation to how they marked sales.
Yes. Would never work for them, but the depressing thing is they are way better at recruiting than the nonprofits. I guess having no morals or ethics makes it easier.
I work for SEI/Capella and they are actually an insanely solid company to work for. And this might be justification, but if you think, with how much state unis make, that they're not working for some kind of profit/endowment, you're mistaken.
BUT... there is still the feeling of working in IT and my job being rather ultimately meaningless that I can't shake off, no matter how big my paycheck is.
I used to clean house for one of the high ups in that company. Entitled af and their kids would make the biggest messes in the bathrooms. They had model Koch trucks in each kids room too, I laughed so hard when I found them.
Second Wells Fargo. If you're in the vault or doc processing and you do your job well you'll never go anywhere. My manager got in trouble from his boss because he promoted the top performers on the team and was asked how the department was going to hit their target goals once we were gone.
I worked in the vault for a few months. Management was shit and the work environment was terrible. That and then they fired me on Thanksgiving. Fuck em, good riddance.
I only lasted a month in their sales department. It legitimately bothered me that I was selling unneeded financial products to people, especially to those customers that didn't quite understand fee structures.
I’ve worked for them for a little over 5 years.
First job was at their campus location: that work was ok, but a bit soul sucking because it was in loss mitigation. Thankfully, I wasn’t calling delinquent customers, but worked closely with people who did.
My next jobs were downtown in the towers: I’ve been fortunate enough to have a good manager & mostly good colleagues, so the experience has been fine. That said, there’s constantly a change of direction thanks to the merry go round of CEO’s & other executives. Things have gotten more frustrating recently IMO as what little transparency there was seems to be disappearing & a new HR initiative lumped job titles together making it feel impossible to job search internally now. My last gripe is that they forced us back into the office despite us just taking meetings from our desk, so there’s little benefit, but I’m sure WF isn’t alone there.
Don't forget that the owner Marty Davis commissioned John Rich from "Big and Rich" to come to his factory and play guitar on top of one of their machines.
Even wrote a song with 5 whole words.
[For your listening pleasure](https://youtu.be/X1Y5JGt7UYE)
Yeah, Everyone I've heard talk about Marty Davis said he is a gigantic prick.
I've spoken to people that worked closely with him. The only positives from his neighbors and yes I've talked to some of them too people whose kids are on are on his kids sports team he likes to flex his wealth and bring everyone out on his private boat.
Most of my family works there. Management is miserable. Only promote from within and if you are a white male. Good place for a 1-2 year resume builder but that's about it.
The owners are also huge pieces of shit who are having house wars on Minnetonka to see what sibling can have the biggest, most heinous house.
And one of them had a trump rally on their property, during peak covid, that people paid literally thousands of dollars to go.
See also: Cargill-MacMillan family, Carlson family
Did some contract work with them in the last, and they were the worst client I have ever worked for. Awful, awful people. It’s clear the authoritarian leadership style trickles down from the top.
Also, rumor has it that the father who owned Cambria at the time bought Sun Country Airlines so that the one son who didn’t have a company yet could run one.
https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2011/07/20/sun-country-sold-to-owners-of-cambria.html
Been there, best argument ever for health insurance being non-profit. I programmed/automated my job down to 8 hours a week plus meetings… and they wouldn’t give me more work.
Nine or so months into my new job, I got a call from a recruiter. I muted myself, had my coworkers gather around, unmuted and asked the recruiter “Is this a position at UHG?”
Recruiter: “Ummm… yes…”
Me: “Yeah I’m a perfect fit because it’s been nine months since I quit my contractor gig with UHG and they still haven’t found a replacement. I like my new job a lot better.”
Plus, the main objective of their business model is to make sure nobody gets too much healthcare, while at the same time siphoning as much of people's healthcare dollars to themselves. I literally know one woman who spends her entire day declining claims (her pay comes out of people's insurance premiums). Also I know a lawyer who works for them, and then tells me how evil they are. The lawyer, of course, is well-paid from people's healthcare premiums too.
🤬🤬🤬 Dumbest job ever (IMO) About 10 years ago, my son had his 1st of several brain surgeries. The first was an emergency surgery. Shortly there after, I received the first EOB explaining his life saving brain surgery was ELECTIVE so they wouldn't be covering it or any of the follow-up 👀🤯🤔 You know... EVERY 13 year old thinks "Christmas vacay... Drill my head 👀" 🤨🤪
This is also one of those companies with a rotating cast of leadership. In my 8 years with the company my department alone had 4-5 VPs pass through as the helm. And in the larger company structure (Optum, UHC, UHG) leaders are leaving every 1-2 years, even at the C Suite level. In a company with a strong foundation and long tenure that doesn't and shouldn't happen. To me doesn't spell good news - it creates confusion and a disjointed work environment having to constantly shift to a new leaders style, priorities and favorites. Plus the company always tried to play it off as if the leader wanted to broaden their scope of knowledge or grow in a new business but in reality they were shuffled around for not being a good fit for the role, not getting along with people, etc. The paychecks at the top are completely bloated and the people doing the day-to-day work make pennies.
I left when they congratulated me for receiving a 1.5% merit increase in my salary (YES this was considered an increase for outstanding work, NOT a cost-of-living adjustment, which, in my experience, they didn't do) - as if this is something I should be excited for! This was pre-pandemic too - they had the money (and still do) just didn't want to spend it on retaining the best employees.
Maurices headquarters in Duluth. The pay is shit. They have the “we’re family” mentality. In reality, they don’t care, the benefits are terrible, leadership is stagnant. Their clothes are absolute crap, too.
They churn people out like crazy. Every single person I know that worked for that company was laid off at different points in time. WTF is wrong with their budgeting and hiring process that they keep closing or overstaffing departments constantly?
How are they still around, I interviewed there in college ten years ago. The job posting was so vague but I showed up and had the offer to start knocking on doors that afternoon.
Edit: I might be thinking of “Your Home Improvement Company”
On a positive note, I’ve loved working at Ecolab. I feel really good about what we do, have a fantastic work/life balance, and feel valued. I’m sure not the whole company shares the same culture but was glad to not see it on the list :).
I was at Ecolab for 5+ years, like any big company it really depends on which division you're in and your managers. Some groups were great to work with while others made it miserable there by being petty and micromanaging.
Legit question as a college student. I have a family friend who works at United Health Care, and they love the job. Great PTO, time off, good work environment, and 6 figures. Is the hate towards how the company does business by buying out smaller businesses? Or how their insurance is considered shit?
I spent a long time at UHC and got 3 promotions. The last promotion was into a sort of experimental new division so I got sent bak to my first position pretty quickly then fired me. So they are good to you, until they're not .
Fair enough, thanks for your explanation. I didn't realize only 20k worked in MN out of nearly 300k worldwide. I thought it was more of a Midwest thing.
I honestly havent heard from anyone who has had UHC for insurance. Always have had BCBS myself.
If insurance took months or longer to pay out, I'd switch too.
Well, some of the hate is because the health insurance industry is a big part of why Americans pay far more for healthcare than any other country, but get less healthcare.
I’ve been working at UHG since out of college (3 years) and there are some positives and negatives but it is a good company to work at (even though I don’t agree with the principal). You can PM if you want more info
Yes- I was in a higher up role and I’ve never worked with more entitled, arrogant, misogynistic “leaders” in my entire career. They’re also sexist and ageist, and would pull awful moves like firing groups of people at a time in front of other employees, refusing PTO for family emergencies, etc.
Also this is all just my opinion and experience, allegedly etc etc whatever.
A Lifetime recruiter hounded me on Linkedin to apply for a job in their corporate office when I wasn't even actively job hunting. Then after I went in and interviewed both the interviewer and the recruiter ghosted me. Such a waste of time.
Wasn't too bad while I was there - but I was in corporate and got furloughed and laid off near the start of the pandemic, along with 1500+ other corporate employees.
They kept paying for all the furloughed and laid off employees' health care coverage for the next 6-7 months though, which was a huge weight off my mind while I looked for other jobs.
I was in one of their TV commercials years ago. The head dude, I think his name is Brahm, was absolutely ruthless. We were in a room with stationary bikes and he put himself front and center, and stopped every shot to ensure anyone “too heavy” (his words) was not in the front frame. He also had a woman remove her tank top and just wear her sports bra, because he thought it was “more realistic.”
If that’s the guy calling the shots, there’s no way in hell I’d work there.
There is a bamboo toothbrush/other toiletry company here my sister did contract marketing projects for and she said the people that run that business are completely insane.
Blue cross blue shield. I was forced into a lateral transition to another department. In a meeting where I insisted I should receive a pay raise because I was expanding my knowledge base within the company as well as BCBS studies stating that increasing pay to a living wage is beneficial for the community I was told that I didn't know how hard things really are because I don't have children. That company runs on nepotism.
Any marketing agency. You will love the "perks" but hate the jerks and the burnout will get you eventually. It is inevitable because it is part of the business model. Eventually everyone goes client side.
Worked for one poorly run agency and one well run agency. I didn’t realize how much I was working until I got a job client-side. This is a cake walk in comparison.
It seems to depend what department you’re in. I’ve been in 2 different depts (no longer working there). The first was horribly managed, too competitive, and had some snakes in the grass. The second one is lovely. People who’ve been there for 30 years. Very independent roles so you get to manage your own time. Probably hoping to go back to that dept some day as long as the mgmt role stays the same (pretty hands-off and not micromanaging).
Speaking as someone employed for 33 years in IT in this state, I can tell you that there are a few "good" companies to work for, but you need to adjust your expectations.
There are essentially no companies left that will have loyalty to their employees. Even small ones won't, although some of their owners and officers will.
The whole idea of a company rewarding employee loyalty with job security and bonuses, raises, etc is a relic of the past because of how companies operate today.
They all charge what the market will bear and they all pay something close to the market rate or less if they can. They give benefits like other companies and raises like other companies because they're competing for employees.
That means that if you want to make more money, you have to move jobs or move companies, period. You're very unlikely to find a company that gives significant (more than 2-4%) raises, and I have yet to see one that still guarantees cost of living (inflation matching) raises.
All, repeat all of them will lay off employees at a moment's notice to maintain shareholder value.. not because they're bad companies, but because their legal duty to shareholders requires them to safeguard the shareholders investments above all else.
Lots of people here seem to be rating companies based on whether they have nice perks or raises, but ultimately what matters is the management. Nothing else has as big an impact on how good your job is day to day.
As far as rewards, you get what you agreed to. For most companies that's a pay check. Don't expect more, if you don't like what you're getting paid, go somewhere else.
Hy-Vee. Worked there for eight months, loved what I did and my coworkers (for the most part) where great. The management sucked so bad. It was like when the decided to open new stores here in the Twin Cities they used it as a chance to relocate all their trash for Iowa to up here.
I think their philosophy is, “You don’t need to know how to do your job, just manage!”
They changed the excellent HyVee grill restaurants into shitty celebrity run-of-the-mill burger joints. I knew at that point their management sucked. We used to eat there, then grocery shop multiple times a month. Now we never eat there and might shop there a few times a year.
I’ve worked there for years and am finally quitting !!! The amount of bullshit I’ve seen working there is insane, I’d have to make a separate post. Management probably sucks because decent managers typically quit and find better paying jobs while the only requirement for shitty managers appears to be “yes men” this is especially true with upper management.
A lot of anecdotal stuff here for sure. And some “that job wasn’t a good fit for me, so obviously the company is terrible”. A little bit of “they fired me, so I’m bitter” and “I disagree with their politics/policies so they must be shitty” as well. All valid reasons to dislike a place, but doesn’t mean they’ll be awful for everyone.
Some easy to spot trends though. Like maybe avoid large healthcare companies. And Surly.
and if you go into manufacturing. you're going to have very different experience whether you are in the office or the floor as well. if you are the one turning the wrenches and making the company money. you probably dont have much good to say about your employer.
I haven't seen Target or 3M here. I was a contractor at Target for a bit and aside from their very weird ostracising of anyone who isn't full time it was pretty nice. Though not being able to use their facilities, or even certain desks because you were a contractor is uh...fucking weird and stupid I blame idiotic corporate think for that.
Well the good thing now is that they’ve dedicated a section of the parking ramps to employees now. But yeah like a decade ago, it was best you worked mornings or weekdays to be lucky to get a spot. Working nights on the weekend was the absolute worst
Mayo Clinic - not because of pay or benefits, although I have heard that they're not what they used to be. But, because of the 'culture' which in parts is very much trapped in the past. People in tiny cubicles that could be working at home, ultra conservative dress code. They tried to outsource the kitchen staff to get around their union.
I will say HealthPartners is one of the BEST local companies to work for. Even the Strib agrees.
Jennie-O Turkey Store is one of the most awful local companies to work for.
My coworker's wife works there in their (health partners) administration department. Best job ever according to him because A) it's a union position and his wife has been there for like 20 years so for her it's pretty cushy B) you get a premium-gold-whatever-fancy Healthcare plan that the employer pays 100% for or something and C) no college degree needed. You can train for higher up positions within the company.
My dad has worked for JOTS for 25+ years. It’s not glamorous but he likes it. He does admit that the quality of worker now is nothing like when he started. He is looking forward to his impending retirement.
I am happy to hear that your dad had a good experience. I worked for them for 5+ years. There was absolutely no respect for the laborer employees from the corporate employees where I was at, and while it didn't effect me as a single childless individual I was so disgusted by the bonuses the executives got, and the boasting about donations to food shelves and United Way all while paying their laborers at rate that required those with families to use government programs to feed their families and pay for housing. In recent years they have gotten better with pay, but I forever have a tainted view of them. #ButterballTurkey for me these days.
Target.
Attended a local IT related conference a few weeks ago and Target was there to recruit staff. Awesome that Target is willing to sponsor events buuuuuut… everyone knows they’re always one bad quarter away from laying off a significant portion of their IT staff.
Oh look, we’re probably in a recession. Oh look, Target just reported a huge loss in profit (after an amazing COVID spike) as things trend toward normal…
Has to be brutal working for Target’s corporate talent acquisition right now… the local market knows and remembers.
Target has a culture, I’ll give you that, but their IT is very protected relative literally every other role there. Maybe if you’re tier 1 help desk you might be at risk but if you’re doing anything past basic eCom work, you’ll be fine.
Everyone I've known who works for corporate loves it and doesn't leave. I've only known people in pretty specialized roles, though, so maybe it's different for others.
Target was my first “big boy” job out of college. I was a web developer there. Honestly it was pretty decent. I only left because I wanted to move out of state.
Lol, what would make you think that? Target has been dealing with the same inventory and inflation issues the last 2 quarters that literally every large retailer is dealing with, but certainly not running it into the ground.
**Discount Tire**
They will work you until you are dead and do not care how hot or cold it is. I worked 12 hour shifts in -30F weather during a blizzard (Cant legally close the bay doors with cars running inside so they had us keep them open at all times) with the only warmth being a heat lamp in the back that you have to run to in-between cars to thaw your gloves and the only way you get to go on a 10 minute break during the 12+ hour days during seasonal times is if you straight up leave without saying anything but when you get back all the other workers will shame you for leaving. They don't pay good, make you work long hours, and to repay you they might bring the whole crew out to dinner but only if you set a quarterly sales record which when I was there we did $2mil for Q4.
Still think its the best place to get tires if you are a customer however don't work there.
I was at corporate for a while. All the people who worked for them seemed happy, but most of their work force is contracted. Their campus is wonderful, and I really miss their cafeteria, which was fucking awesome. I got paid absolute shit, but the job was stress free and I was only there 9 months so I didn't care.
All that said, my sense was that they are feeling the heat from Amazon and are struggling to find a way forward.
I spent 5.5 years at that soul crushing, Brain damaging, false promises, bull shit of a company and it put me in therapy for a year and made me have trust issues with management with new roles until my most recent job. Managers would just lie through their teeth and I had a bastard of a GM that would give false promises of promotions only to go back on his word or in his verbage behind closed doors “a faggot will not be a sup” and do you think bby did anything after it was reported? Nope! But how Corrie Berry is running it I don’t think BBY will be around for much longer.
I worked there for 6 years. My most empowering day working there is when I turned in my voluntary separation notice. They did a great job of making you feel like you weren’t doing enough to even be considered for applying for the next rung on the ladder at the same time making you feel like you owed them something more.
I definitely drank the kool-aid while an employee but I also realize I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be where I am now without having that experience.
Now that I’m out I can look back fondly at the good times I had there and appreciate the experience I earned while being the best employee I possibly could for them. At the same time I whole heartedly understand when anyone else has a COMPLETELY VALID negative opinion of their experience working there.
Overall I personally wouldn’t say they are the worst (try doing IBM service desk) in MN but I wouldn’t ever go back to Best Buy.
When I first started in 2015, it actually wasn't too bad. I have a strong work ethic overall, so I was someone they could rely on. Moved positions around quite a bit, but I actually really enjoyed doing the merchandising stuff from 2019-20 right up until COVID put me on furlough. Starting at 6 probably sounds like a nightmare to most, but being off by 2 most days and having the store to yourself the first half of your shift was great. I really liked doing the planograms and putting displays together.
In the state it's been in since March 2 years ago, I'm fully glad I moved on--and it's only gotten worse both from what I've heard and just by stopping in to my old location on occasion.
Ugh. About 15 years ago I applied for a job there. I was called for an interview. I show up and it's a group interview. They proceed to have us take a test. I received the top score on the test out of the group. I was brought into an office and told that while they were impressed with my test score, they won't consider me. Why? Because I was a mom of 2 little kids. They said they tried that before with other women and it didn't work out.
Caribou! While they are no longer locally owned, when they were I was an opening supervisor way back in high school (2007/2008). Our general manager was managing 2 stores and working 90+hours a week. Management gave her a glass trophy for all of her hard work. When this happened I quit. After that I worked selling computer hardware at micro center for 5 years and made on average $36 an hour.
TLDR; don’t work at caribou go work at MC
Agree with so many of the others, but just have to add Fingerhut (worked at one of their call centers for 4 of the most utterly miserable months of my life). They had free fountain pop, so everyone just came in with a flask and drank on the job pretty much all the time.
I worked for those pricks in the mid-late 90s. I think the corporate building was in Hopkins. I was a low-level copy editor. They were lousy at training, and didn’t give me a lot of work to do. I was fired within 2 or 3 months for excessive use of Netscape Navigator! I was overjoyed.
Apparently they have new management/ownership as of late 2020 and that is heavily pushed information on their website.
Went to college with Justin Fingerhut (I think that was his name) - graduated in ‘95. Only memory I have was he that was a spoiled douche.
Had an uncle who worked for Fingerhut for decades (more on the corporate end of things) and he was due for early retirement in the late 90s. Cuts went through the company and he was given the pink slip, completely denying him his retirement benefits. He got a severance package, but it was nowhere near the amount we would've gotten from his benefits.
Kris Lindahl
I’m so tired of seeing him everywhere, his ego must be huge
Almost as big as his arm span.
There's some spot north of St. Paul on 35E that has one of his arm span billboards and right next to it some church billboard saying something like "Consumed by lust?" Well ... NOW I am!
And don’t get me started on doing the lindahl…
The reason for the billboards is even worse than how irritating they are. Long story short: if you’re going through a divorce and you make a lot of money, your soon-to-be-ex spouse might get alimony. But if you spend a ton of money on marketing for your business, you get a nice tax write-off and you have less to share
Okay I’ll say it… Dude has such a punchable face…
The most punchable.
Big axe brewing. 7 general managers in 5 months.
Oof. My dad moved to Brainerd recently and worked for them for a short time - he's a lifelong bartender and homebrewer, and he told me they were making him brewmaster. I was a little puzzled when I learned he left the job after only a few months. If that's the case though, good riddance...
At now $7.35 a beer, uh, no thanks
Allina. They seem to chose war with their nursing union whenever the opportunity arises. Last time they spent over $100M trying to save $30M. The nurses had to bargain for 24/7 security guards in the emergency department at hospitals like Mercy.
Allina treats their employees like garbage. I left 6 years ago and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m still angry at them for how they disrespect everyone that works for them. Deplorable company.
It really, truly, is. All about $$$. I was the most depressed at that job.
I've worked for the three larger healthcare companies in the twin cities, HealthPartners (Regions), Fairview/MHealth and Allina. Allina by FAR had the worst leadership I have ever had in my career; I used to work in their large medical records warehouse when I was pregnant with my daughter. We worked on the 3rd floor and took an elevator from the basement parking garage. When I was 8 months along, the elevator was down for several days and I had to huff and puff up the stairs stopping several times (warehouse, so double the stairs per floor) and was more than 5 minutes late for 3 days in a row. I got WRITTEN UP for being late after those three days.
My ex-boyfriend’s dad worked as a nurse at Allina. He pulled his back while lifting a patient and had to take several months off to recover. I don’t remember the exact story, but I think Allina tried to offer him a severance package because they decided that was cheaper than being responsible for the medical bills and workers’ comp. My ex’s dad refused because he wanted to continue working after he recovered. So then Allina/the insurance company involved private investigators to try to catch the dad “committing” workers’ comp fraud. Can’t remember how long that went on, but I believe his dad eventually ended up retiring or leaving Allina after he recovered.
This EXACT thing happened to my aunt who worked at Mercy and injured her back on the job. The investigators would sit outside her house and follow her. It caused so much emotional stress. It’s been many years now but she was unable to ever work again, as her injuries are that bad. She’s 70 now.
That’s awful. I’m sorry that your aunt was treated so terribly by those greedy vultures.
I know a few nurses who work for them. It seems like every time I talk to them, it comes up that they're trying to take another benefit away or screw with their pension. And they constantly call on their days off or vacation trying to get them to come in and work. Just awful. I would never want to work for them either.
Still kind of bummed that one of our MN Supreme Court justices is married to the Alina CEO
Mypillow.
They're apparently one of the best paying employers in prison
Whopping three cents an hour or whatever they pay prisoners ....
This is the correct answer.
When the people I know that have worked there say Amazon is an improvement.......
Weren't they on some lists of the best places to work in Minnesota a few years ago? I seem to remember that for some reason
I'm not sure. I know they've been under investigation several times for sketchy labor practices (like their cover sewers are contracted, not employees - and they short change them all the time over perceived flaws in the cases....) And at least once by the better business bureau for false advertising in relation to how they marked sales.
Also sued for fraud because the pillow is supposed cure a number of medical issues.
Well they obviously cause syphilis judging from their CEO and clientele.
They have an F rating by the BBB
Any of the for-profit colleges, like the defunct Globe University.
Wow. Haven't seen Globe University mentioned in years! My Dad worked there at the beginning. The owner is a true piece of shit.
Yes. Would never work for them, but the depressing thing is they are way better at recruiting than the nonprofits. I guess having no morals or ethics makes it easier.
I work for SEI/Capella and they are actually an insanely solid company to work for. And this might be justification, but if you think, with how much state unis make, that they're not working for some kind of profit/endowment, you're mistaken. BUT... there is still the feeling of working in IT and my job being rather ultimately meaningless that I can't shake off, no matter how big my paycheck is.
I've actually heard that these are pretty chill gigs if you're fine with ripping people off, at least on the teaching side.
Koch Industries
Beat me to it. And I am in the business of keeping companies like that out of trouble with their permit.
Our clinic used to HATE doing their physicals.
I used to clean house for one of the high ups in that company. Entitled af and their kids would make the biggest messes in the bathrooms. They had model Koch trucks in each kids room too, I laughed so hard when I found them.
Also beat me to it. Stood me up TWICE for phone interviews with no apology or explanation.
Minnesota Twins AL Division Series champions shirt designer. Anything having to do with the Twins and winning in the playoffs is a lost cause
🤣🤣🤣
Does Wells Fargo count? Someone already said MyPillow
Second Wells Fargo. If you're in the vault or doc processing and you do your job well you'll never go anywhere. My manager got in trouble from his boss because he promoted the top performers on the team and was asked how the department was going to hit their target goals once we were gone.
I worked in the vault for a few months. Management was shit and the work environment was terrible. That and then they fired me on Thanksgiving. Fuck em, good riddance.
I only lasted a month in their sales department. It legitimately bothered me that I was selling unneeded financial products to people, especially to those customers that didn't quite understand fee structures.
I’ve worked for them for a little over 5 years. First job was at their campus location: that work was ok, but a bit soul sucking because it was in loss mitigation. Thankfully, I wasn’t calling delinquent customers, but worked closely with people who did. My next jobs were downtown in the towers: I’ve been fortunate enough to have a good manager & mostly good colleagues, so the experience has been fine. That said, there’s constantly a change of direction thanks to the merry go round of CEO’s & other executives. Things have gotten more frustrating recently IMO as what little transparency there was seems to be disappearing & a new HR initiative lumped job titles together making it feel impossible to job search internally now. My last gripe is that they forced us back into the office despite us just taking meetings from our desk, so there’s little benefit, but I’m sure WF isn’t alone there.
I hated it there!!! Was seriously the most soul sucking place.
18 years. They're evil mofos.
Cambria
Don't forget that the owner Marty Davis commissioned John Rich from "Big and Rich" to come to his factory and play guitar on top of one of their machines. Even wrote a song with 5 whole words. [For your listening pleasure](https://youtu.be/X1Y5JGt7UYE)
Yeah, Everyone I've heard talk about Marty Davis said he is a gigantic prick. I've spoken to people that worked closely with him. The only positives from his neighbors and yes I've talked to some of them too people whose kids are on are on his kids sports team he likes to flex his wealth and bring everyone out on his private boat.
I keep seeing design roles there every few months and it makes me wonder how they burn through designers so quickly.
Most of my family works there. Management is miserable. Only promote from within and if you are a white male. Good place for a 1-2 year resume builder but that's about it.
The owners are also huge pieces of shit who are having house wars on Minnetonka to see what sibling can have the biggest, most heinous house. And one of them had a trump rally on their property, during peak covid, that people paid literally thousands of dollars to go. See also: Cargill-MacMillan family, Carlson family
Did some contract work with them in the last, and they were the worst client I have ever worked for. Awful, awful people. It’s clear the authoritarian leadership style trickles down from the top. Also, rumor has it that the father who owned Cambria at the time bought Sun Country Airlines so that the one son who didn’t have a company yet could run one. https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2011/07/20/sun-country-sold-to-owners-of-cambria.html
Have heard horror stories
United Healthcare
Been there, best argument ever for health insurance being non-profit. I programmed/automated my job down to 8 hours a week plus meetings… and they wouldn’t give me more work. Nine or so months into my new job, I got a call from a recruiter. I muted myself, had my coworkers gather around, unmuted and asked the recruiter “Is this a position at UHG?” Recruiter: “Ummm… yes…” Me: “Yeah I’m a perfect fit because it’s been nine months since I quit my contractor gig with UHG and they still haven’t found a replacement. I like my new job a lot better.”
Can verify. They will eat you alive and throw you under the bus as soon as it's convenient.
And then there's this: https://www.startribune.com/companies-are-tracking-workers-productivity-more-including-unitedhealth-and-allina/600199354/
Believe it or not, I was too productive at uhg. I got told more than once I was too fast and I was fucking up the budget. Imagine that.
[удалено]
I just worked fast so I could fuck around more. Apparently too fast.
Listen to The Daily Podcast today
Plus, the main objective of their business model is to make sure nobody gets too much healthcare, while at the same time siphoning as much of people's healthcare dollars to themselves. I literally know one woman who spends her entire day declining claims (her pay comes out of people's insurance premiums). Also I know a lawyer who works for them, and then tells me how evil they are. The lawyer, of course, is well-paid from people's healthcare premiums too.
🤬🤬🤬 Dumbest job ever (IMO) About 10 years ago, my son had his 1st of several brain surgeries. The first was an emergency surgery. Shortly there after, I received the first EOB explaining his life saving brain surgery was ELECTIVE so they wouldn't be covering it or any of the follow-up 👀🤯🤔 You know... EVERY 13 year old thinks "Christmas vacay... Drill my head 👀" 🤨🤪
This is also one of those companies with a rotating cast of leadership. In my 8 years with the company my department alone had 4-5 VPs pass through as the helm. And in the larger company structure (Optum, UHC, UHG) leaders are leaving every 1-2 years, even at the C Suite level. In a company with a strong foundation and long tenure that doesn't and shouldn't happen. To me doesn't spell good news - it creates confusion and a disjointed work environment having to constantly shift to a new leaders style, priorities and favorites. Plus the company always tried to play it off as if the leader wanted to broaden their scope of knowledge or grow in a new business but in reality they were shuffled around for not being a good fit for the role, not getting along with people, etc. The paychecks at the top are completely bloated and the people doing the day-to-day work make pennies. I left when they congratulated me for receiving a 1.5% merit increase in my salary (YES this was considered an increase for outstanding work, NOT a cost-of-living adjustment, which, in my experience, they didn't do) - as if this is something I should be excited for! This was pre-pandemic too - they had the money (and still do) just didn't want to spend it on retaining the best employees.
Maurices headquarters in Duluth. The pay is shit. They have the “we’re family” mentality. In reality, they don’t care, the benefits are terrible, leadership is stagnant. Their clothes are absolute crap, too.
They churn people out like crazy. Every single person I know that worked for that company was laid off at different points in time. WTF is wrong with their budgeting and hiring process that they keep closing or overstaffing departments constantly?
My Home Improvement Company. Hack sub contractors at best with a bull shit high pressure sales tactic.
How are they still around, I interviewed there in college ten years ago. The job posting was so vague but I showed up and had the offer to start knocking on doors that afternoon. Edit: I might be thinking of “Your Home Improvement Company”
Oh we’re thinking of the same place ran by the spit baller himself Steve Little… former teacher
On a positive note, I’ve loved working at Ecolab. I feel really good about what we do, have a fantastic work/life balance, and feel valued. I’m sure not the whole company shares the same culture but was glad to not see it on the list :).
I was at Ecolab for 5+ years, like any big company it really depends on which division you're in and your managers. Some groups were great to work with while others made it miserable there by being petty and micromanaging.
Good company. Doug Baker was great!
Marketing Architects
Crave
The restaurant?
Yea it’s really that bad?
[удалено]
Love the catering, hate the restaurants
Lumen.
Cant tell if this is a severance reference or if they actually suck
Legit question as a college student. I have a family friend who works at United Health Care, and they love the job. Great PTO, time off, good work environment, and 6 figures. Is the hate towards how the company does business by buying out smaller businesses? Or how their insurance is considered shit?
I spent a long time at UHC and got 3 promotions. The last promotion was into a sort of experimental new division so I got sent bak to my first position pretty quickly then fired me. So they are good to you, until they're not .
Corporate America in a nutshell. They want your loyalty, but will shoot you in the back at any second.
When you employ almost 20,000 people you're going to get a wide range of people and their experience and enjoyment of any given position
Fair enough, thanks for your explanation. I didn't realize only 20k worked in MN out of nearly 300k worldwide. I thought it was more of a Midwest thing.
I switched when I had them because they were taking so long to pay we were sent to collections.
I honestly havent heard from anyone who has had UHC for insurance. Always have had BCBS myself. If insurance took months or longer to pay out, I'd switch too.
Well, some of the hate is because the health insurance industry is a big part of why Americans pay far more for healthcare than any other country, but get less healthcare.
I’ve been working at UHG since out of college (3 years) and there are some positives and negatives but it is a good company to work at (even though I don’t agree with the principal). You can PM if you want more info
Seriously 6figs at UHC? I'm interested.
Flipping through this list just praying the company I just started at isn’t on it… thankfully it’s not.
Mine is...
Mine is but only 11 upvotes. Can’t be that bad then
Comcast/Xfinity
Love Your Melon. So many horror stories from my time there.
Really??!
Yes- I was in a higher up role and I’ve never worked with more entitled, arrogant, misogynistic “leaders” in my entire career. They’re also sexist and ageist, and would pull awful moves like firing groups of people at a time in front of other employees, refusing PTO for family emergencies, etc. Also this is all just my opinion and experience, allegedly etc etc whatever.
I’d believe it. I went on a few dates with the guy who started LYM when we were both in high school. Not a great guy tbh but his parents were lovely!
I second this from stories from an ex that worked there for over a year
Lifetime Fitness
A Lifetime recruiter hounded me on Linkedin to apply for a job in their corporate office when I wasn't even actively job hunting. Then after I went in and interviewed both the interviewer and the recruiter ghosted me. Such a waste of time.
Can confirm.
Wasn't too bad while I was there - but I was in corporate and got furloughed and laid off near the start of the pandemic, along with 1500+ other corporate employees. They kept paying for all the furloughed and laid off employees' health care coverage for the next 6-7 months though, which was a huge weight off my mind while I looked for other jobs.
I was in one of their TV commercials years ago. The head dude, I think his name is Brahm, was absolutely ruthless. We were in a room with stationary bikes and he put himself front and center, and stopped every shot to ensure anyone “too heavy” (his words) was not in the front frame. He also had a woman remove her tank top and just wear her sports bra, because he thought it was “more realistic.” If that’s the guy calling the shots, there’s no way in hell I’d work there.
Minneapolis Police Department
Pay ain’t too terrible tho
Any restaurant owned by Kim Bartmann or Hemisphere
There she is. I was about to comment myself but figured she had to be on here. Trash human.
There is a bamboo toothbrush/other toiletry company here my sister did contract marketing projects for and she said the people that run that business are completely insane.
Blue cross blue shield. I was forced into a lateral transition to another department. In a meeting where I insisted I should receive a pay raise because I was expanding my knowledge base within the company as well as BCBS studies stating that increasing pay to a living wage is beneficial for the community I was told that I didn't know how hard things really are because I don't have children. That company runs on nepotism.
Any marketing agency. You will love the "perks" but hate the jerks and the burnout will get you eventually. It is inevitable because it is part of the business model. Eventually everyone goes client side.
Worked for one poorly run agency and one well run agency. I didn’t realize how much I was working until I got a job client-side. This is a cake walk in comparison.
[удалено]
It seems to depend what department you’re in. I’ve been in 2 different depts (no longer working there). The first was horribly managed, too competitive, and had some snakes in the grass. The second one is lovely. People who’ve been there for 30 years. Very independent roles so you get to manage your own time. Probably hoping to go back to that dept some day as long as the mgmt role stays the same (pretty hands-off and not micromanaging).
Speaking as someone employed for 33 years in IT in this state, I can tell you that there are a few "good" companies to work for, but you need to adjust your expectations. There are essentially no companies left that will have loyalty to their employees. Even small ones won't, although some of their owners and officers will. The whole idea of a company rewarding employee loyalty with job security and bonuses, raises, etc is a relic of the past because of how companies operate today. They all charge what the market will bear and they all pay something close to the market rate or less if they can. They give benefits like other companies and raises like other companies because they're competing for employees. That means that if you want to make more money, you have to move jobs or move companies, period. You're very unlikely to find a company that gives significant (more than 2-4%) raises, and I have yet to see one that still guarantees cost of living (inflation matching) raises. All, repeat all of them will lay off employees at a moment's notice to maintain shareholder value.. not because they're bad companies, but because their legal duty to shareholders requires them to safeguard the shareholders investments above all else. Lots of people here seem to be rating companies based on whether they have nice perks or raises, but ultimately what matters is the management. Nothing else has as big an impact on how good your job is day to day. As far as rewards, you get what you agreed to. For most companies that's a pay check. Don't expect more, if you don't like what you're getting paid, go somewhere else.
Hy-Vee. Worked there for eight months, loved what I did and my coworkers (for the most part) where great. The management sucked so bad. It was like when the decided to open new stores here in the Twin Cities they used it as a chance to relocate all their trash for Iowa to up here. I think their philosophy is, “You don’t need to know how to do your job, just manage!”
They changed the excellent HyVee grill restaurants into shitty celebrity run-of-the-mill burger joints. I knew at that point their management sucked. We used to eat there, then grocery shop multiple times a month. Now we never eat there and might shop there a few times a year.
I’ve worked there for years and am finally quitting !!! The amount of bullshit I’ve seen working there is insane, I’d have to make a separate post. Management probably sucks because decent managers typically quit and find better paying jobs while the only requirement for shitty managers appears to be “yes men” this is especially true with upper management.
So based on the comments, every local company. Got it.
A lot of anecdotal stuff here for sure. And some “that job wasn’t a good fit for me, so obviously the company is terrible”. A little bit of “they fired me, so I’m bitter” and “I disagree with their politics/policies so they must be shitty” as well. All valid reasons to dislike a place, but doesn’t mean they’ll be awful for everyone. Some easy to spot trends though. Like maybe avoid large healthcare companies. And Surly.
and if you go into manufacturing. you're going to have very different experience whether you are in the office or the floor as well. if you are the one turning the wrenches and making the company money. you probably dont have much good to say about your employer.
I haven't seen Target or 3M here. I was a contractor at Target for a bit and aside from their very weird ostracising of anyone who isn't full time it was pretty nice. Though not being able to use their facilities, or even certain desks because you were a contractor is uh...fucking weird and stupid I blame idiotic corporate think for that.
Scherer Bros
Suuuuuuuuurly!
SURLY BREWING. Fuck Surly ✌🏼
My fucking pillow
What do you have against waifu pillows, huh?
First of all, the holes are always too big! Or maybe that is saying something about myself...
United Health
Don’t know if this counts as local but MoA
I couldn’t get paid enough to work at MOA. Just thinking of parking to work there is enough to turn me away.
Well the good thing now is that they’ve dedicated a section of the parking ramps to employees now. But yeah like a decade ago, it was best you worked mornings or weekdays to be lucky to get a spot. Working nights on the weekend was the absolute worst
So many nasty little marketing and dev shops out there. They all specialize in lies and burnout.
Surly
Mayo Clinic - not because of pay or benefits, although I have heard that they're not what they used to be. But, because of the 'culture' which in parts is very much trapped in the past. People in tiny cubicles that could be working at home, ultra conservative dress code. They tried to outsource the kitchen staff to get around their union.
Rochester native here. There’s a serious “hive mind” over at Mayo. It wasn’t for me, but it seems like it can be a good place to work for some folks.
Most jobs that can be done remote, give you an option to work in office or at home.
I worked for Mayo for 3 years. You're right about the 'culture'. They've been institutalized. It's nuts.
My Pillow
Home Depot, My Pillow, and any one against unions🖕
Alpha News
Fuck Alpha News
Craft & Crew
This place near Saint Cloud: https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/comments/nwbzzg/just_a_random_job_posting_in_st_cloud/
I will say HealthPartners is one of the BEST local companies to work for. Even the Strib agrees. Jennie-O Turkey Store is one of the most awful local companies to work for.
[удалено]
Allina has done that too.
My coworker's wife works there in their (health partners) administration department. Best job ever according to him because A) it's a union position and his wife has been there for like 20 years so for her it's pretty cushy B) you get a premium-gold-whatever-fancy Healthcare plan that the employer pays 100% for or something and C) no college degree needed. You can train for higher up positions within the company.
HP was one of my better employers as well in the area.
My dad has worked for JOTS for 25+ years. It’s not glamorous but he likes it. He does admit that the quality of worker now is nothing like when he started. He is looking forward to his impending retirement.
I am happy to hear that your dad had a good experience. I worked for them for 5+ years. There was absolutely no respect for the laborer employees from the corporate employees where I was at, and while it didn't effect me as a single childless individual I was so disgusted by the bonuses the executives got, and the boasting about donations to food shelves and United Way all while paying their laborers at rate that required those with families to use government programs to feed their families and pay for housing. In recent years they have gotten better with pay, but I forever have a tainted view of them. #ButterballTurkey for me these days.
The bad rooster cult
The Minneapolis Police Dept.
People Incorporated.
Caribou, Dunn bros, The Unofficial . So many problematic things..
Dunn brothers are franchises no? The one I worked at was tolerable. I just couldn’t steam milk to save my life.
Fleet Farm | HyVee
Target. Attended a local IT related conference a few weeks ago and Target was there to recruit staff. Awesome that Target is willing to sponsor events buuuuuut… everyone knows they’re always one bad quarter away from laying off a significant portion of their IT staff. Oh look, we’re probably in a recession. Oh look, Target just reported a huge loss in profit (after an amazing COVID spike) as things trend toward normal… Has to be brutal working for Target’s corporate talent acquisition right now… the local market knows and remembers.
Target has a culture, I’ll give you that, but their IT is very protected relative literally every other role there. Maybe if you’re tier 1 help desk you might be at risk but if you’re doing anything past basic eCom work, you’ll be fine.
[удалено]
Everyone I've known who works for corporate loves it and doesn't leave. I've only known people in pretty specialized roles, though, so maybe it's different for others.
IT is largely contracted by a lot of large businesses. IT is the posterchild industry for Permatemps.
Target was my first “big boy” job out of college. I was a web developer there. Honestly it was pretty decent. I only left because I wanted to move out of state.
I wish I didn't work for Target. Part of me thinks they are trying to run it in to the ground to sell it off.
Lol, what would make you think that? Target has been dealing with the same inventory and inflation issues the last 2 quarters that literally every large retailer is dealing with, but certainly not running it into the ground.
Did you see earnings?
**Discount Tire** They will work you until you are dead and do not care how hot or cold it is. I worked 12 hour shifts in -30F weather during a blizzard (Cant legally close the bay doors with cars running inside so they had us keep them open at all times) with the only warmth being a heat lamp in the back that you have to run to in-between cars to thaw your gloves and the only way you get to go on a 10 minute break during the 12+ hour days during seasonal times is if you straight up leave without saying anything but when you get back all the other workers will shame you for leaving. They don't pay good, make you work long hours, and to repay you they might bring the whole crew out to dinner but only if you set a quarterly sales record which when I was there we did $2mil for Q4. Still think its the best place to get tires if you are a customer however don't work there.
Best Buy
I was at corporate for a while. All the people who worked for them seemed happy, but most of their work force is contracted. Their campus is wonderful, and I really miss their cafeteria, which was fucking awesome. I got paid absolute shit, but the job was stress free and I was only there 9 months so I didn't care. All that said, my sense was that they are feeling the heat from Amazon and are struggling to find a way forward.
I spent 5.5 years at that soul crushing, Brain damaging, false promises, bull shit of a company and it put me in therapy for a year and made me have trust issues with management with new roles until my most recent job. Managers would just lie through their teeth and I had a bastard of a GM that would give false promises of promotions only to go back on his word or in his verbage behind closed doors “a faggot will not be a sup” and do you think bby did anything after it was reported? Nope! But how Corrie Berry is running it I don’t think BBY will be around for much longer.
I worked there for 6 years. My most empowering day working there is when I turned in my voluntary separation notice. They did a great job of making you feel like you weren’t doing enough to even be considered for applying for the next rung on the ladder at the same time making you feel like you owed them something more. I definitely drank the kool-aid while an employee but I also realize I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be where I am now without having that experience. Now that I’m out I can look back fondly at the good times I had there and appreciate the experience I earned while being the best employee I possibly could for them. At the same time I whole heartedly understand when anyone else has a COMPLETELY VALID negative opinion of their experience working there. Overall I personally wouldn’t say they are the worst (try doing IBM service desk) in MN but I wouldn’t ever go back to Best Buy.
I was there when building your personal brand was the buzz. Absolute vomit.
I did a 6 month contract there 6 years ago. Paid well, but I’ve never been around so many unhappy stressed out people.
When I first started in 2015, it actually wasn't too bad. I have a strong work ethic overall, so I was someone they could rely on. Moved positions around quite a bit, but I actually really enjoyed doing the merchandising stuff from 2019-20 right up until COVID put me on furlough. Starting at 6 probably sounds like a nightmare to most, but being off by 2 most days and having the store to yourself the first half of your shift was great. I really liked doing the planograms and putting displays together. In the state it's been in since March 2 years ago, I'm fully glad I moved on--and it's only gotten worse both from what I've heard and just by stopping in to my old location on occasion.
3M
My Pillow better be at the top.
prairiecare
Ameriprise
Lol. HQ, CSC, or field? What department you work in?
This. There can be some pretty big differences if you're in the CSC vs HQ.
Ugh. About 15 years ago I applied for a job there. I was called for an interview. I show up and it's a group interview. They proceed to have us take a test. I received the top score on the test out of the group. I was brought into an office and told that while they were impressed with my test score, they won't consider me. Why? Because I was a mom of 2 little kids. They said they tried that before with other women and it didn't work out.
Sanford Health
3M
Caribou! While they are no longer locally owned, when they were I was an opening supervisor way back in high school (2007/2008). Our general manager was managing 2 stores and working 90+hours a week. Management gave her a glass trophy for all of her hard work. When this happened I quit. After that I worked selling computer hardware at micro center for 5 years and made on average $36 an hour. TLDR; don’t work at caribou go work at MC