Best in the Industry - Software Engineer II Garmin Employee Review

5.0
10 Jul 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For the embedded industry there really isn't much better than Garmin. Benefits (401k, healthcare, ESPP, product discounts) are at the top of the industry and incredibly generous. There is a brand new on-site gym which is also nice. You can tell the company really cares about its employee's well being. In terms of a work environment, Garmin is an engineering company first and foremost. Lots of internal tools that are very high quality (I can only speak from aviation software but the internal testing tooling really made our life so much easier). Also the codebase was one of the cleanest i've ever worked with. It's a great place to start your career and a great place to stick to long term. They have a good mentoring program for new hires and there are many people here who have spent their entire career at Garmin. The work life balance here really cannot be beat. I left Garmin to be closer to family (see cons), but if not for that I would have absolutely stayed here long term, it really is that good. I cannot recommend Garmin enough

Cons

There is little flexibility for remote work. They do offer a hybrid system (3 days in person, 2 at home), but no fully remote option. This wouldn't be a huge issue, however the HQ is based in Kansas City. If you are an outdoor person KC does not offer much + that midwest summer can be brutal.

Explore other reviews about Garmin

5.0
9 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Culture, benefits, pay, and onsite gym.

Cons

Time off is not up to industry standard.

3.0
3 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefits and work life balance. It's a good culture and I've never worked at a place where your immediate peers are this helpful and pleasant to work with, even across teams and offices. If you want to just come in and do just what is required for your job and go home with the knowledge you have a stable job, this is the perfect place to work. I'd only recommend working here if you just want a job, but don't care about a career.

Cons

There is poor career advancement, especially if you aren't male. Leadership does not care about leading people. The RTO has made working here less appealing. The excuse that you can't collaborate unless you are in the same building makes no sense when you work with people in 6 different countries. It is about control and appearances, all due to incredibly poor senior leadership strategies. The pay is also low and so is the quality of the software you work on. Leadership likes to talk quality, but they like fast and cheap. They will not support you in actual software quality nor implement changes to improve it. The same issues happen over and over without improvement.

8
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