Barilla America Employee Review

Current Employee – been working at Barilla America

Pros – Amazing benefits & some great perks (free pasta & sauce!)
Lots of company events
Liberal with budgets and internal spending
Great people

Cons – The last few years have seen lots of change, and there is more on the way. The company will be moving approximately 25 miles away, making commuting much more difficult for the vast majority of employees. No flexibility will be given as far as work hours, travel reimbursement/allowance, etc. Many people have left the company and will be leaving the company for this reason alone.

Salaries have now been "capped" and once you hit the ceiling for your particular position, you will never see a raise again - not even a COLA raise. People also leaving the company for this reason.

Global HQ in Italy is now calling all the shots whereas they used to be less involved. They want the company to be globally aligned, yet they maintain seperate and unequal '"corporate rules" by location.

Italy has also forced out over half of the Leadership team in the last 6-8 months. All of those people were, loyal, hard-working, dedicated good folks who were absolute assets to the company. Italy has an "its our way or the highway" attitude if you question any of their actions, they show you the door.

Work/life balance overall is good, but it really depends on what department you work in and who your direct manager is. No consistency. Some employees allowed to work from home whenever they want, others are not allowed at all. Same thing with coming in late and leaving early on a daily basis. Some managers don't care, others watch the clock.

With so many people leaving so quickly, chaos is ensuing. Workloads are getting dumped onto others that are already overworked and the frustration and aggrevation is clearly evident. HR has trouble filling open positions because pay is no longer competitive and is too low.

10% of the corp. workforce has left the company in the last 8-10 months with another 30% or so planning on leaving in the next year. I don't know how the company will survive with no bodies there to do the work.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep employees more informed. Become aware, acknowledge and address employee concerns. You have so many wonderfully talented and loyal people working for you. In order to keep them, you're going to have to listen, learn, be proactive and more accomodating to their needs.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend