Does Fender Musical Instruments pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Fender Musical Instruments employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Fender Musical Instruments. This rating has improved by 5% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Fender Musical Instruments?

66% of Fender Musical Instruments employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Fender Musical Instruments 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.8 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Fender Musical Instruments?

Marketing (9) , Director (5) , Sander (5) , Software Engineer (5) , Engineer (4) , Manager (4) , Product Manager (4) , Buyer (3) , Contractor (3) , Customer Service (3) , Design Engineer (3) , Sales (3) , Sales Representative (3) , Sander/Polisher (3) , Account Manager (2)

What are the pros of working at Fender Musical Instruments according to real employee reviews?

"There are some great people at Fender who are passionate about the company and want to do a good job." ((in 44 reviews)); "There's a great culture underneath with some of the long tenured people that have been there through the decades." ((in 14 reviews)); "Good pay" ((in 9 reviews)); "Employees were great." ((in 8 reviews)); "Benefits are good" ((in 8 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Fender Musical Instruments according to real employee reviews?

"Poor management running the saw mill department" ((in 19 reviews)); "Upper management is awful and only cares about bringing home their bag of money and will screw you over while doing it." ((in 13 reviews)); "Unless you're comfortable with politics, instability, and poor leadership, I would not recommend joining this company." ((in 10 reviews)); "Pay / benefits / managers and directors gate keep." ((in 9 reviews)); "The company has experienced recurring layoffs, creating uncertainty year after year." ((in 7 reviews))

What are employees saying about Fender Musical Instruments layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Fender Musical Instruments layoffs and their outlook for job security at Fender Musical Instruments in 2026.

Fender Musical Instruments "benefit" Reviews

1.0

Feb 13, 2015

Retired Employee of Division owned by FMIC in Bloomfield CT

No longer exists

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

"Cool" name recognition factor Many good products Most employees in Scottsdale were good to work with Good benefits

Cons

Top management's lack of regard for its employees and the value they provide Management unable to present a clear vision of goals and how to achieve them More focused on style over substance Arrogant towards suppliers and vendors

3.0

Jan 24, 2014

Worthwhile experience, but ultimately disappointing.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing products and people, good work/life balance, and great employee discounts.

Cons

Job shop culture, lack of direction in upper management, lack of long-term growth potential, below average compensation and benefits

4.0

Aug 21, 2015

Robust Benefits

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Robust benefits for the overall size of the organization - which is small. Benefits offered represent feedback from employees, trends in the market, and are competitive with other companies. The path of where the company is going is intriguing and good for the health of the business - and can represent an exciting time for the company and the employees. Continues to be innovative and look for ways to be a strong employer.

Cons

Not enough time-off to be competitive with other companies.

Fender Musical Instruments Response

10y

Hi there, thank you for your feedback in regard to the benefits offered at FMIC. Our employees are instrumental to the success of our company, and our goal is to provide affordable and quality benefits that will meet the needs of each employee and their family members. Our benefits team is one of the best. Seriously! Our Benefits Manager won "Benefits Professional of the Year" for her outstanding commitment in getting employees actively involved in both wellness initiatives and retirement programs. By understanding the needs and listening to the wants of our employees, our benefits staff is able to provide rockin' programs that keep everyone happy as well as healthy. For example, we heard that employees were unsatisfied with our time off program. Starting in 2016, we will be changing our tune and offering a bank of PTO rather than the traditional time off system. This will give employees greater flexibility and more freedom to use their personal paid time off however they see fit! This is just one great example of efforts that are being made, but there certainly are areas in which our benefits could improve still. However, the team is working hard to provide a well-rounded, unique, and practical benefits program, and employees will start to see some of these improvements in the upcoming open enrollment!

4.0

Sep 17, 2019

Coworkers made the job tolerable

Consumer relations representative

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Jeans and t-shirts OK, fairly relaxed ethos from management (in this department, anyway), awesome coworkers

Cons

No company matching for retirement plan, uncertainty with CEO and direction of the company, salary and benefits were only OK

3.0

Oct 26, 2014

Once a great place

Anonymous

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits (good medical coverage, decent 401k compared to other companies) cool factor to say "I work at Fender " The rare, but amazing employee sales

Cons

A culture that does not value individual creativity, but rather supports brown nosing and back stabbing. Great if you want to play a corporate game and climb the ranks all while doing no real work. Terrible if you want to love the product.

3.0

Dec 16, 2016

Good Company but complicated management style

Collections specialist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits, Employee activities, Bagel Friday, Celebrating Birthdays, Employee Blackboard, Band Events, Company Culture, Employee Sales.

Cons

Low salaries, a very complicated hierarchical structure, too many top executives that are disconnected from the base level employees, most managers are not interested on hearing new ideas.

1.0

Mar 23, 2019

Sander Polisher AVOID

Sander

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The say many promise but nevers true

Cons

MANY contrary points to work at Fender: 1. Start too early 4:30am only por reason to get second shift people 1:30 start. 2. Give you many times go-home because no parts ready from other shift. 3. Supervisor cheat and to give favoritism to bad workers for list order numbers from other people’s work. 4. Never hire direct, only by temp agency ALL PROMISE LIES LIARS. 5. Many bad decisions by Scottsdale AZ managers because they never see nothing.Never come to the job,never know nobody and don’t care these job. 6. Someone pass a quality bad but complain about it to Supervise and say I don’t care then terminated for complain. 7. Push you working hard for Christmas then lay off 3weeks no pay for holidays. You don’t like they send you home. 8. Agency send many bad people to you, have to train, then supposedly they don’t do good blames to you fault. 8. Hires the people don’t even have a English or skills, but pay same $12 since 2005. 9. Say health benefits never offer. 10. Say me a hire-direct 60 days but they quit the temps all same time before 50 days all liars

5.0

Oct 11, 2014

Good place to work for

Sander

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits ...and great people to meet

Cons

Not many. .not much

3.0

Feb 21, 2017

Guitars, guitars, guitars

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

For a musician it is a great place to work with what you love. Sometimes the pay can be competitive Benefits are good Rockstars come through often

Cons

People are expendable, regardless of time invested Expectations can be too high Favoritism is not uncommon Promotions are not always based on merit Can be difficult to move up