Anheuser-Busch Reviews

Pros

The people who work at Anheuser-Busch are some of the most talented and well rounded people i have meet in my professional career.
The company has a great office environment and has several in office activities to keep the work week short and enjoyable.

Cons

Union workers abound on the manufacturing floor and there is a bit of divide between hourly and salary employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Integrate the hourly employees with the salary employees and the overall atmosphere of the plant would be greatly improved

Pros

pay is competitive
free beer!
good advancement opportunities
challenging

Cons

loss of several benefits/privileges since take over

Pros

Chance to work for a global company; beer industry is fun; free beer every month; if you like an open work environment with no frills, then this is the place for you.

Cons

Still transitioning from old culture to new; cost cutting is too much; the main objective is to keep cash flow moving to the owners (think Carl Icahn); low employee morale; fear of what will happen to employee pay & benefits after the 3 year time limit (since the takeover) is up in November 2011 (there was a condition in the takeover that no changes could be made to salaries/benefits in first 3 years); bonus is based on some objectives out of employee's control - and mostly impossible to reach.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more consistent in your messages. You want salaries & benefits to be around 50% industry standard - which is a reduction for most employees & is contrary to the belief system of the previous ownership, but you want to be the best beer company in a better world. Much of the profit that has been made for the owners so far has been on the backs of the employees (in the form of jobs lost & wage/benefits reductions). And stop draping the American flag around the winner of a contest - it's disrespectful to the American flag.

Pros

- Still somewhat prestigious in the St Louis market, because most people don't know any better
- Above-average entry-level pay (if you can get on full-time, that is.)
- In general - smart, fun, upwardly-mobile coworkers

Cons

- Doing the work of 2 $60k/year full-timers, as a $14/hour contractor (temp) with NO benefits
- Watching other contractors get away with doing virtually nothing all day for that same $14/hr
- 50+ hour work weeks - terrible work/life balance, which is actually worse for the full-timers due to the number of lazy and/or no-nothing contractors everywhere
- Bleak prospects of getting on full-time, considering almost half of my department is already staffed with contractors.
- Very little recognition for outstanding performance - Old Guard AB holdouts in middle mgmt are too busy covering their own ass and protecting/promoting buddies, to see the value in anyone new
- Mixed messages from upper mgmt and conflicting goals across departments

Advice to Senior Management

- Stop viewing (and treating) your workforce as an expense... they can be your best asset, and by far your best ambassadors in the marketplace
- Contractors are NOT saving you money. Hire HALF that number of actual employees, that are experienced and/or motivated - then watch productivity skyrocket.
- Continue purging Old AB cronies from the middle mgmt ranks... those of us that came in after the buyout don't care about the "good old days", and we're interested in moving forward. Help us get out of the tug-o-war that's going on inside the company.
- Actually LIVE by the core principles you espouse, and stop just paying lip service to them. A "Program" does not create "Excellence" within a company - bright, motivated people do.

Pros

Global Opportunity
Fast Paced
Stock Growth
A lot of smart people

Cons

Work Life Balance
Analysis Paralysis
Changing Direction
Individual vs Team atmosphere

Advice to Senior Management

Live stated principles every day. Principles are right on but are manipulated to fit individual agendas. Numbers are driving short term behavior

Pros

High potential variable compensation (stress *potential*).
Opportunity for international assignment.
Young, energetic culture.
Smart people.
Big time resources available when they are needed.
Market leadership position makes for a certain degree of prestige.
You can drink beer on the job if you are so inclined.

Cons

Poor work-life balance.
Sr. management disdain for legacy AB employees.
Much greater emphasis on growing profit than on maintaining or enhancing product/brand quality.
Low morale.
Rigid, one-size-fits-all business philosophy.
High variable compensation is often not paid out.
Benefits are weak, even though they try to make it seem like they are "50th percentile among similar sized companies."

Advice to Senior Management

Stop making your employees spend all their time doing paperwork and learning protocols - they need to be able to do some actual work some time. Show a little more respect for people with families-- people whose family situations do not allow them to spend 60 hours per week in the office still deserve a chance at promotion. Stop cheapening the product - your cost cutting measures will hurt the brand in the long run.

Pros

The people and products are great! Everyone takes great pride in the work they do. Senior leadership is open to being challenged and will push right back on the employees to try to drive success. AB InBev is not for employees who are complacent with "just getting by". The employees are pushed to "think big and take on big challenges". Senior management pushes employees to act as owners of the company and think of company money as they would their own. The company rewards employees who work hard and truly are contributors of success to the company - variable pay has increased for all employees to drive the "ownership" mentality. Succession planning and performance feedback is completely open and transparent so employees always know where they stand and what they need to do to be promoted within the company. Cross-functionality is valued in the company so varied experiences are available to employees who are performing well.

Cons

Not all employees have embraced the new culture of Anheuser-Busch InBev and there is some contention amongst the "new" and "old" way of doing things. The disgruntled employees end up bringing morale down for all employees. Employees are given large challenges but tend to be understaffed in some areas so they wind up being stretched too thin and work long hours - some departments are better about controlling this than others. Clear targets and individual KPIs are sometimes at odds with other's targets - with variable pay so closely tied to targets sometimes the "greater good" of the company loses out to an individual doing whatever they need to do to fulfill their individual target. Technology is not great - computers are old and slow, most employees don't get blackberries or technology stipends even though they end up using personal laptops for travel or personal phones to do conduct their business.

Pros

Formerly rich in heritage, dedicated employees and teamwork, today if you are young and willing to make a work/life balance sacrifice for average wages, conflicting KPIs and veiled leadership - it's a place for you to work.

Cons

Turmoil through cultre change since takeover. Sr Mgt does not Understand the culture of A-B US employees; they continue to lie to employees who are smart enough to see through the false statements.

Advice to Senior Management

Understand the culture of A-B US employees; do not lie to employees who are smart enough to see through the falsehood of the greed of senior management.

Pros

If you like working in a cubicle setting this is the place to be. Most people say wow you work at the brewery. If you are young and have a some sort of degree, you will like the campus like office with no professors to teach and guide you. If you like doing the work of four people and long hours this is a place for you.

Cons

Most of the older managers have retireed, laid off or left the company. They spent their time building this company and after 30 years have left the company. They say one thing and do another. This is not an American company any more and no longer value the heritage that this company once had. All benefits are being reduced for hourly and management.

Pros

- Solid benefits
- Good work-life balance

Cons

- Limited advancement opportunity
- Limited challenges available for younger employees
- Very "old-boy" type system

Advice to Senior Management

Actually allow people to grow at the pace of their own talent, don't just say it.