More Cynical Now Because of My Time There - Senior Engineer Schneider Electric Employee Review

2.0
Feb 12, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits overall. Depending on which group you work for there is plenty of cash being thrown around if you can sell a project. Chances of travel overseas are good. When I first started it was great. I worked with some fantastic people that I very much miss to this day. Our group was on the verge of becoming something great.

Cons

I literally watched 10+ rounds of layoffs over 3 years with no end in sight. To say that it had an impact on morale would be a complete understatement. Worse, the people I saw layed off were mostly long-timers who were making decent $$$ through attrition and commitment to the company. Because of HR (see below) you may have been 20 years with Schneider, but your end will be 5 minutes out the door with maybe a chance to get your coat. So much for loyalty... Even worse is the fact that many of the middle-management types somehow keep finding their way into new jobs created for them. For instance, everyone will know there is an October surprise layoff coming. So some mid-level project manager type will suddenly become a segment manager with the implication being that we always needed that position anyway. The effect of this I personally watched over the course of many years with Schneider. You basically get a recycled group of self-interested managers with marginal skills and literally no attachment to the industries that they serve. By the way, that is the Schneider game to be played: you just have to keep "manager" in your title. When one of these mid-level guys makes it to a senior manager level he/she will take his/her whole crew with him. Hence you will find many senior managment types without degrees, management skills, etc. because of this fact. I understand that this is corporate America; it is not who you are it is who you know. But Schneider U.S. took it to a sickeningly refined level that is made more obnoxious by the sheer number of people being let go by their incompetence. Also, the facility I worked for had some of the worst HR people I have ever seen. For a group that has walked 100's of people to the door over the course of 10+ years of layoffs you would think they could refine their techniques. Because of their lack of proactivity the "rumor mill" in the place I worked was always in overdrive. I put in my multi-week notice and did not even get an exit interview with an HR person. To Me, that says everything about the lack of professionalism these people show. To summarize: HR was not interested in hearing what I had to say, the status-quo was just fine with them. My 5+ years was just a drop in a meaningless bucket to them.

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5.0
Jun 25, 2026
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CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Flexible Job -Autonomy to run your own territory as a business -Great benefits -Employee Stock Sharing Program -Leadership brands in the market

Cons

-Large and slow -Constant org changes Top Down

2.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Decent pay and good benefits - work truck with gas card -good experience

Cons

- management is disconnected from field employees - review process does not reflect employee performance since managers do not go out in field in order to properly assess job performance - poor communication which leads to chaotic project implementation - no standardization of necessary info for each customer site. You walk in completely blind each time you visit a customer you’ve never been to - safety is important, but corporate pushes redundant messaging so frequently i believe it has the opposite of the intended effect - forced to wear long sleeves FR shirts in hot weather even when you are not exposed to fire hazards any more than a standard office employee

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