DuPont Pioneer Reviews

Current Employee – been working at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – The benefits are good, particularly the vacation.

Cons – The management style is very inclusive

Advice to Senior Management – Be more open

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Overall salary and benefits are good. Strong emphasis on safety. Working alongside professional people is great. Stable industry has not been overly affected by economy during the recent recession.

Cons – The current executive management has a mission of driving productivity down by creating open work areas with a staggering amount of distractions. People are saying "we need quiet areas to work" and management just keeps repeating, "This is a pleasant place to work. Look at how pretty it is."

The interior design team spends more time talking about creating an office that "looks good" instead of fostering an environment for getting things done. A whole building full of cubicles was built with poor ergonomics. There is not enough room to put your legs out in front of you underneath your desk and none of the cubicles were equipped with keyboard trays. Then a senior executive stands up in a safety meeting and says "we need be concerned about repetitive stress injuries". Disconnect.

Advice to Senior Management – The continuing development of herbicide-resistant plants and Bt-resistant
insects is a strong warning that the future of biotechnology is likely get
rougher, not smoother.

If you want better productivity, reduce distractions. Things like emails, talkers, phones, meetings, paperwork, etc.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Emphasis on safety. Part time benefits. Good overall compensation package. Training/development opportunities.

During the late 1990s, early 2000s, management repeatedly shrank research budgets/centers/salesmen, until one day someone realized that Pioneer market share had been decreasing for 10 years. Voila, pump $100 million into research and the performance of products is improving.

Cons – According to the DuPont safety principles, "management is accountable" for safety, but every single accident report always pins the blame on the employees.

Management sits very cozy in private offices while regular employees are being crammed (one new building has hundreds in one room) with short cubicle walls. Employees are screaming in protest. Impossible to concentrate while people around you are talking loudly. Management refuses to admit a mistake and keeps repeating "This is a pleasant and productive work place".

Management spends way too much time meeting with Wall Street investors.

Too many HR personnel with not enough to do, so they make needless changes to paperwork and policies every year.

Advice to Senior Management – If you keep reducing the quality of office spaces, employees will leave and recruiting will be hurt.

During the annual budget panic, don't re-evaluate all approved travel and positions. Re-evaluating is a huge waste of time for everyone. Just delay new travel/position requests.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Leader in industry, considerate and responsive to their employees with a competitive compensation package. Open door policy for employees and respectful of their workforce.

Cons – There is not much to complain about. They are hyper sensitive to diversity and safety. Operates in a volatile industry.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue spending on research and development to assure excellence in products and services. Continue investment in information technology and maintain autonomy.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – The projects involve interesting, scientific work. Benefits are decent, better than most on Des Moines.

Cons – As said in an earlier review, there really is no chance for advancement based on merit. Work is frequently kept hidden so it's not claimed by management. Work techniques aren't shared. Change is discouraged unless one gets a manager to claim it as their own idea. Recognition and choice projects are all based on connections and politics. Everyone, especially who gets promoted, is all connected somehow, related, frat brother, etc. Upper management is never held accountable for mistakes or worse. Employees find out about important events via news media before being told at work.

Former Employee – worked at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Benefits, very safety oriented, care about employees well being, wages are not bad

Cons – to much favortizm was going on at our location, to get a job or promotion lately you had to either be a friend or relative to one member of managment.

Advice to Senior Management – the plant locations need time clocks, in the long run this would save the company money if they started docking peoples time for being late. Over the years I have worked for Pioneer I have seen a lot of employees come in late and write 8 hours on their time cards. Nothing is done about it. I had reported this to management but didn't see anything come from it.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Benefits, Insurance, Retirement, Wages, Safety,

Cons – Heat in the fields, long hours, Lots of responsibility but get paid for it.

Advice to Senior Management – The leadership needs more hands on whatever job there is to be done.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Best reasons to work at Poineer are the pay, benefits and atmosphere that you are working in with the people around you.

Cons – Downsides of working at Pioneer would be having a lot of shift changes. Other than that it is a positive place.

Advice to Senior Management – Advice i have to the Pioneer Manaagement is to stay on top of 5s and make sure that all new employees are aware of 5s.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – Local company with average pay.

Cons – Never recognized for achievements or yrs of dedication, looked upon as a pee-on and NO MIDDLE MANAGEMENT for communication from RA'S to SHOP WORKERS.

Advice to Senior Management – You definitely need a shop manager for communication between RA's and seasonal employees. I have been yelled at 2x by RA'S in front of other employees for something I didnot even do, without even an apology. How rude.

Current Employee – been working at DuPont Pioneer

Pros – A good benefits package when you become full time regular. Good insurance, time off and profit sharing. It is a ggod field to be in.

Cons – Pioneer has a way of making employees wait up to 7 years to become full time regular and recieve all benefits. Pioneer also lets location managements own policies and this leads to misunderstandings.

Advice to Senior Management – Make sure that location management is following company polisies in all areas.Respect your employees and the level of commitment they have to the Pioneer name.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend