Robert Bianco of USA Today also did not give it an enthusiastic review, calling it "witless, tasteless, poorly acted, abominably written, clumsily directed, hideously lit and badly costumed".

"[10] Alan Pergament, formerly of The Buffalo News, expressed surprise that the show even made it to air, stating "I do recall I couldn't get those 22 minutes of my life back.

"[11] LGBTQ advocacy groups expressed concerns about Work It, saying that it trivializes the obstacles faced by transgender people in the workplace.

[12] The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation released a statement that, while acknowledging that the series pilot "does not explicitly address transgender people", still concluded that "[d]uring a period in which the transgender community now routinely finds itself in the cultural crosshairs, the timing couldn’t be worse for a show based on the notion that men dressed as women is inherently funny.

The pilot was criticized and protests took place at the network offices for a line of dialogue delivered by Amaury Nolasco's character Angel, who claimed that as a Puerto Rican he would "be great at selling drugs".