Pratt & Whitney Reviews

Pros

good set of benefits, good pay, job stability, work life balance

Cons

some inefficient red tape like with any large company

Pros

The company is a nice comfortable place to stay and earn a paycheck. Unless the economy is low and they are doing lay-offs, I would say the job security is better than average. It is also a respected place to put on your resume. There is opportunity to earn a degree for free and that is nice (even though they scaled back a couple years ago). The work culture is decent and somewhat casual and I really appreciate the stand they take on ethics and harrassment. They also care a lot about employees safety. If an employee has a reason their work station is uncomfortable, getting something that is more comfortable is pretty easy and they are really good about that.

Cons

Now, I am not a disgruntled employee who didn’t get a raise. This is a fair and honest review about this company and since I have worked in multiple departments and have had several managers, I think I have a good understanding about the pitfalls of Pratt and Whitney. It will seem like I am just disgruntled, but it’s sad to say that I really think this company has some very serious problems, and just bad for a company that makes something like jet engines. Now for the review….

Proper job training is virtually non-existent. There are tons of training courses that are available, none of which will ever teach you to do the actual job you are going to do / doing. When you start, they literally just tell you to sit with someone (or not), anyone - good or bad. You could be lucky to be paired up with someone who actually cares and who is a good mentor, but most employees are too swamped to spend the time you deserve in the first place. The person you are put to sit with might not even know for sure what you will be working on, so they teach you (or try to) what they know, but you are most likely going to be doing something else. Proper documentation is also non-existent. You have to be scrambling to figure out what systems you need to get access to, and you may find out in a "by the way" conversation with a fellow employee.

Everything is disoriented, standards and processes are in everyone's head and trying to get something done that requires the input from others mean you have to almost stalk them. As I am in IT, I have to work a lot with employees who do not work in IT (these are considered our customers) and then we have to deal with yet other groups who has no proper policies or standards, but we are expected to help develop a system to help them do their job better. Working at Pratt and especially IT is OK, if you like jigsaw puzzles. You scramble around for the pieces to make the big picture. I must admit, this can be a little exciting at first, but it can quickly wear you down.

Managers have too much control over their employee which makes the environment unfair. You will have one set of employees being able to work from home or getting comp time, getting flex schedules, getting tons of opportunity to take training, etc, while another set of employee who sits one aisle over being micro-managed by their supervisor. Managers decide if your courses are taxable, and even though there are guidelines it really is ultimately up to the boss. Managers may rate some employees fairly while some might rate you based on how much you 'kiss up' to management. Many managers also do not empower their employees, and I have witnessed even managers scared of making a decision, for fear that his manager will not approve. I guess if employees were equipped with better training and better documentation then it would be much easier to empower employees to make good decisions. In many groups expect to work 50-60 hours with no comp time or overtime. I actually think they overpromise on schedule because they depend on employees to spend less time with their families and more time getting their job done.

The systems and tools can be outdated. Nothing the IT group does compares to industry standards for IT. Things are run like a joke, and it’s just very amazing how as an employee I have to scramble around to get equipped with the tools/resources/knowledge I need to do my job.

Career growth is unstructured, it is based on who you know or how long you are there (with no fixed time schedule, it just happens eventually). People become mangers because they are often good at what they do, with what seems to be VERY LITTLE consideration with how well they can manage. I am pretty sure all managers have to take management courses, but that is a mere check in the box. Employees never get the chance to assess/review their managers and when they do it’s not-anonymous which makes no sense.

Having said all of this, no company will be perfect. Some of these will exist at some places, some will be worse and some will be better. However, I do think Pratt's discombobulating atmosphere is terribly disappointing for a company with such a huge revenue size. I think most of the points I mentioned contributes to this culture, and this will sure drive away new people. I have known several people who started and left the company within one year, that I am starting to worry about the companies future as the world enters an new era.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to restructure the entire company and get rid of all the good ole' boys clubs. Get fresh minds and develop a culture that is not afraid of change and innovation. Having us participate in ACE events as a way to make real improvements is a honest joke. Many departments that are gold status is still one big disoriented mess. Take care of your most important assets, your employees. We will enter an era where retirement is going to spike and jobs will be more available. Those of us holding out will soon leave to find jobs at places where we have a more structured place to work, with better benefits and a much better chance of career growth and development, or just career fulfillment. You also cant eliminate cake on engineer's week, because the economy is down. It is cake for Pete's sake and Engineer's are the front-line of your company.

Pros

good for management related jobs

Cons

don't work for engineering department

Advice to Senior Management

need to appreciate technical folks

Pros

Benefits were very fair
Management understanding about time off
Compensated for schooling

Cons

Management was always switching things up without communicating to their employees. Upper management was very disconnected from the workers and were rarely seen nor did they offer gratitude for good work.

Pros

work-life balance, year end shutdown, tuition reimbursement

Cons

hard to get promoted as non-minority

Pros

Lots of opportunities for growth.

Cons

Lots of work in my department for the number of workers.

Pros

good projects to work on
good culture

Cons

too much bureaucracy
limited educational program

Pros

1. OK benefits
2. Vacation and plan shutdown days

Cons

1. Very basic IT department. Even managers are programmers
2. Difficult employees

Advice to Senior Management

IT needs testers, PMs, Business Analysts and not just programmers

Pros

Some of the top reasons for working at Pratt include very interesting work, great compensation, and a strong connection between supervisors and employees.

Cons

The largest reason not to work at Pratt and Whitney is that it is located in East Hartford, CT. This is a great place for those looking to start a family but is quite dull for recent college graduates.

Pros

Good pay, smart people, interesting products and challenges.

Cons

Very conservative organization. Lots of levels of approval for anything.