Boeing Reviews

Pros

Great people, you earn what you put in. Having Boeing as a starting company is a dream come true, however I do not see a long future for myself here as other companies pay higher for what I do.

Cons

Sometimes lacking in directions. Not having a strong sense of cohesiveness. Extremely slow in getting anything done a.k.a there is a ton of bureaucracy

Advice to Senior Management

I really don't have any advice for management as I've come to realize that with a company of this size, the shortcomings of the company cannot be changed without monumental effort.

Pros

Excellent aerospace company leader in field

Cons

Big company, sometimes too easy to get lost in the crowd. Too focused on certain technologies. Need more of the human element.

Pros

-Great Benefits
-Cool Products
-Smart people
-Easy going pace

Cons

-Very large: small fish in a big sea
-Promotion process is terrible
-To much old fashioned conservative thinking
-young employees are not assigned meaningful work

Advice to Senior Management

Stop pushing lean propaganda as a means to bump yourself up. Modify and enhance the promotion process. Get rid of the forced performance distribution.

Pros

I haven't looked into other jobs very seriously from what research I did, Boeing's salary is at or above other salaries. But, what puts them above the others is the benefits package--401k, pension (for some of us who have been there 3+ years), vision, dental, paid education, etc.

Cons

Boeing is a very large company with very large projects. And, you'll find that it is much harder and will take longer to get things done the larger the project/company. Adding the fact that most projects in St. Louis are military, that complicates it even more. You would think that when you're working with military projects, you'd be working on the cutting edge of technology. But, because things take so long and there are so many outside dependencies, the end product has parts that are over 10 years old. We have a running office joke that we're at the "trailing edge" of technology. This isn't that big of a deal until you start thinking about leaving the company.

We have been going through some layoffs. And, there were some demotions. I do not blame the company for this. The economy was contracting and it gave a good reason to trim some of the lower performing workers off the books. As for the demotions, they were simply trying to reduce the number of managers that were probably promoted too quickly. Then, when we lost projects, and they ended up in positions with no people reporting to them. Unfortunately, they have learned their lesson and are making it harder for other employees to get promoted.

I would love to work for a smaller company but with that would come a lower salary and reduced benefits. So, I'm probably gonna be here for the rest of my career. That is, of course, if there aren't massive layoffs when/if the defense budget is reduced.

Advice to Senior Management

I wish I had some advice to fix all of the cons I listed. But, I believe this is just a problem of being a large company. You can try and make company wide processes to try and streamline things, but by the time those processes get flowed down 5 levels of management, you'll find out that every project is different and the process won't completely apply.

Pros

It was really close to home and it offered a decent benefits package along with local discounts from local retailers.

Cons

Layoffs were rough. When management sees the trend coming then it was really cut throat. But that could be with any company

Pros

The people are great to work with

Cons

External shocks can cause a swing in business

Pros

* Great products
* Fantasitc benefits
* Work with very smart people
* Company pays for your education (I got my MBA)
* Ability to transfer most places in the US or the world

Cons

* Very cautious -- extreme process -- innovation tough
* Very easy to get stuck doing a resume killing job
* Defense currently in down cycle -- lots of layoffs

Advice to Senior Management

Airplanes are the first leg. Defense is the second leg. A stool requires three legs to stand -- what's Boeing's third leg?

Pros

Professional and career growth came to those that worked for it. Hard work is rewarded at Boeing. It was a nice place to work and good friends were made.

Cons

Those that do not work as hard might not see the compensation, but they can slack by under the radar and cause extra work for others.

Advice to Senior Management

Management could do a better job at weeding out those that are of little use to the company. The encouragement of teamwork and family feel to the workplace makes it a great place to work.

Pros

- Great benefits
- Decent pay
- "Easy" and "slow-moving"

Cons

- A very slow paced environment. If you're one who's smart, wanting to work hard and move forward, you'll definitely be met with subtle push back from others -- kind of the mentality of "don't try too hard.." but without anyone actually saying it
- Tries to "seem fair" but its no different from Boeing's traditional roots ... very tenure based vs performance based

Advice to Senior Management

There are plenty (actually I would go out on a limb and say, majority) of folks there to simply "ride it out" and basically there until retirement. They have their place -- but don't bucket everyone into that category. Give challenging opportunities to those who have higher expectations and desire to be there for you.

Pros

Excellent benefits, reasonable pay, somewhat reasonable advancement-depends on group. Helps to be a friend of those in high places-Senior Mgt.

Cons

Bureaucracy to the max. Many times you do things not because they make sense, but because you are told to just do it. Things often get lost in the chain, and many have no idea what some things mean.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of the managers and leads who treat some employees like s..t! In the short run, it might work, but not in the long run. May you feel all the negative some of us have to continually live with.