NAVTEQ Reviews

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great work-life balance,
non-stressful management,
latest technologies,
latest methodology (Agile)
Good benefits (8% 401k match with immediate vesting)

Cons – Too many meetings, integration with Nokia is a hit or miss
Agile is sometimes taken to an extreme
Very hard to get promoted or get a pay raise

Advice to Senior Management – Give line managers an ability to reward employees monetarily and title-wise
Focus on producing quality software and not necessarily following a methodology

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ as a contractor for more than 3 years

Pros – In the Information Systems Division the environment is great. Mostly everyone is very knowledgeable and are willing to drop things to help you when you need it. It's also pretty relax unless users are becoming a nuisance.

Cons – Acquired by Nokia and the Nokia way is destroying the company. Becoming strict with vacation days and changing the workflow and using products that are not as functional as previous technologies. Also not hiring in IS division due to reconstruction of division.

Advice to Senior Management – Hire more workers and the ones that have been working hard. Keep fighting bad decisions by Nokia.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at NAVTEQ full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Smart and friendly colleagues, good benefits, great location near transit

Cons – Zero chance for career advancement, even for the most ambitious team members I worked with. Nokia made that even worse. Some divisions are very poorly managed with almost no progress made on big promises for new product development.

Advice to Senior Management – Leave.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ full-time

Pros – An opportunity to work for a global company and get solid, meaningful international exposure and experience. You will be working in a field that is dynamic, cutting edge, and changing rapidly.

Cons – Significant shifts in strategy - it is not "ranging in", it is more "Ok, let's try this..." A manager can miss performance targets wildly and there are few visible repercussions.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ full-time for more than a year

Pros – -Work-life balance
-Onsite gym
-Highly intelligent people
-Casual work environment

Cons – -Minimal growth opportunities
-Developing top talent is always a challenge

Advice to Senior Management – Identify more opportunities for employees to grow in their career.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at NAVTEQ full-time

Pros – Its a good stable company. The work environment is very friendly.

Cons – The bigggest disadvantage is that the middle management is screwed up, they really do not care for the well being of their team memebers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at NAVTEQ part-time for less than a year

Pros – NAVTEQ is now NOKIA. They are organized and committed to technology, accuracy, and service. Their lay-off process was extremely humane and sensible.

Cons – NAVTEQ is now NOKIA. US operations have been centralized in Chicago. I honestly can't think of any other "cons" regarding this company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ full-time for less than a year

Pros – Innovation is focused on to be a part of company culture (time set aside for employees to do what they want for the good of the company). This is an exciting place to work. They offer competitive pay and have a more interesting domain model, including mapping technologies and graphics that other companies in the Chicago area. The downtown office is also a great building in a great location. The company embraces everyone maintaining a very good work life balance - with decent vacation offered.

Cons – Merge with Nokia still not complete and the Nokia family as a whole still in time of transition with the future unknown. They do try to communicate their plans ahead of time where they can and inspire the workers - but it is hard to say if it will pay off or not.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Flexible hours, friendly co-workers & management, interesting & fun product to work on/be a part of. Years ago Navteq was a wonderful place to work, treated & compensated employees fairly.

Cons – Company is cheap. Low wages, no opportunities for advancement, no 'light at the end of the tunnel'. The recession and the restructuring from former Navteq to Nokia has made working here take a major down turn in the last few years. 3 years of great performance reviews & management responsibilities with no increase in wage. Local management states that the wages are 'out of their hands', & that when corporate opens up jobs there may be better salary options for all. This was over 1.5yrs ago, & continues to be an elusive topic with no answers or dates given. Many have been laid off, or have quit finding much better salaries for the same work near by. Although dozens of ''job positions'' are open now, Nokia refuses to pay existing employees any more money AND expects them to absorb all of the responsibilities that have now been opened up due to the ''restructuring'' of employees! Very bad business ethics, a word that Nokia tries to advertise themselves as highly valuing. Continues to string along their 'temp' employees for years with no benefits or permanent hire options. The company has been cutting costs, like many other companies, in order to survive the hard economic times. However, without employees making a decent wage and making the products to sell, there would be no company.

Advice to Senior Management – Your veteran employees know the company inside & out, it would be beneficial to the company as a whole to hold on to those individuals by offering them a reasonable living wage, with adequate yearly raises. It makes a considerable amount of sense to develop people you already have, and know how to run & manage proprietary software than to hire someone off of the street and start from scratch. I, as well as everyone else understand that the CEOs, the VPs, the upper level management get paid substantial amounts of money for the work that they do. As they should! However; in order for your company to succeed and prosper in the long run - you should think about how your current roll in the company exists. It exists because you have a product; people who purchase, and people who help create that product. If the people who help create that product are not making a decent living wage.. and continue to be treated as if they do not matter within the organization, they will go elsewhere and help that company grow & prosper. Paying each employee a decent competitive wage will help out the entire well being of Nokia, or any company, full circle.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at NAVTEQ full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Good benefits, managers stress work-life balance, perks (gym at the office and flexibility to work at home in some positions)

Cons – Salaries are less than what you can expect to receive at other companies for similar positions

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company