Schneider Electric Reviews

Pros

People are very nice. Work pressure is low. There are many opportunities for rotating in different departments and different countries.

Cons

Salary is not very competitive in the market. There are not many promotion opportunities. The pace in the company is slow, you can't expect to learn much from your experience at schneider.

Advice to Senior Management

Schneider electric can create more challenges to ambitious employees and give them more opportunities to take challenge and get promotions

Pros

Within my sector, I work with very knowledgeable people who are always willing to share information. The services we produce help our customers save energy and money and bring awareness of environmental impact.

Cons

Schneider Electric and purchased and merged many different companies into Schneider in the past 4 years but there is still very little information within the company on how to use this to our advantage.

Advice to Senior Management

The Global leadership, national leadership, and business unit leadership does not seem to either agree on the goals of the company or the implementation to achieve the goals. There is a break down of communication from the top to the lowest levels of what the overarching direction of the company is. It is not necessary to know it for the employee to continue to be productive, however it is necessary if you want to instill confidence in global management's competency.

Pros

Good benefits overall. Depending on which group you work for there is plenty of cash being thrown around if you can sell a project. Chances of travel overseas are good.

When I first started it was great. I worked with some fantastic people that I very much miss to this day. Our group was on the verge of becoming something great.

Cons

I literally watched 10+ rounds of layoffs over 3 years with no end in sight. To say that it had an impact on morale would be a complete understatement. Worse, the people I saw layed off were mostly long-timers who were making decent $$$ through attrition and commitment to the company. Because of HR (see below) you may have been 20 years with Schneider, but your end will be 5 minutes out the door with maybe a chance to get your coat. So much for loyalty...

Even worse is the fact that many of the middle-management types somehow keep finding their way into new jobs created for them. For instance, everyone will know there is an October surprise layoff coming. So some mid-level project manager type will suddenly become a segment manager with the implication being that we always needed that position anyway. The effect of this I personally watched over the course of many years with Schneider. You basically get a recycled group of self-interested managers with marginal skills and literally no attachment to the industries that they serve.

By the way, that is the Schneider game to be played: you just have to keep "manager" in your title. When one of these mid-level guys makes it to a senior manager level he/she will take his/her whole crew with him. Hence you will find many senior managment types without degrees, management skills, etc. because of this fact.

I understand that this is corporate America; it is not who you are it is who you know. But Schneider U.S. took it to a sickeningly refined level that is made more obnoxious by the sheer number of people being let go by their incompetence.

Also, the facility I worked for had some of the worst HR people I have ever seen. For a group that has walked 100's of people to the door over the course of 10+ years of layoffs you would think they could refine their techniques. Because of their lack of proactivity the "rumor mill" in the place I worked was always in overdrive.

I put in my multi-week notice and did not even get an exit interview with an HR person. To Me, that says everything about the lack of professionalism these people show. To summarize: HR was not interested in hearing what I had to say, the status-quo was just fine with them. My 5+ years was just a drop in a meaningless bucket to them.

Advice to Senior Management

As your own internal surveys tell you: demonstrate competence. Or better yet, prove that you have a strategy to stop the skid of the bottom line. The assumption that the unwashed masses within the company don't understand what is going on will be your downfall.

Pros

Good work and life balance

Cons

Less opportunities for growth in some teams

Advice to Senior Management

Look to provide opportunities for growth

Pros

Good products. Some opportunities to travel overseas. Friendly environment among peers.

Cons

Very localized. Different HR, IT, benefits policies. You might receive different treatment depending on which function or business unit you join. Little communication across countries, pretty much working in your own country or world. Outdated IT systems and lots of manual processes.

Advice to Senior Management

Still having silo behavior at senior management level. Lots of lip services, doesn't see concrete action. Need to focus more on customers and employees instead of sales numbers only. You should be the role model of all employees.

Pros

work/life blance. Laid back environment

Cons

not enough work, low morale because of lay-offs

Advice to Senior Management

n/a

Pros

Great flexibility when it comes to work-life, family-life balance
Wonderful co-workers
Dedicated and loyal teamates if you are fortunate to stay teamed up with your fellow Legacy APCers

Cons

Benefits have plummeted
"Raises" or "Promotion" are few and far between (if ever)
The culture is "dog eat dog"
Project Management ability is a JOKE
HR Department is NOT about the "Humans" but alllll about the Corporation...tsk tsk =S=
The only thing keeping me at this company are the Pro's listed above....for now.

Advice to Senior Management

Cuts to cover your "bottom line" are no way to run a business. You can't create a budget prior to starting a fiscal year, then 1/2 through cut that budget and then tell everyone they're now "over budget". Laying off solid employees and dedicated workers to save a few bucks is also no way to run a business if you want solid and dedicated workers to stick around or come to work here. I would never recommend a friend even apply to Schneider Electric.

Pros

Good work and personal balance

Cons

Can be very political environment

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to customers and employees

Pros

Very easy to move between positions and locations within the company, strong possibility to cross-train into other roles.

Cons

Difficult to follow a specialist role if that is what you choose, ultimately puts people at a disadvantage, as specialists are considered to be inflexible in terms of their work.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow people in the company to specialise as well as move around, and convince line managers that these people are not a liability in the company, but a different (and equally valid path) to be rewarded accordingly.

Pros

Reasonable compensation with good benefits
Competent and employee friendly management
Excellent opportunities for corporate citizenship
Culture as a whole was very friendly and accomodating

Cons

Lack of communication sometimes cross-functionally
The industry as a whole is seeing a decline in US jobs which might lead to lack of job stability
Relatively high turnover rate in middle management

Advice to Senior Management

The biggest draw back I experienced was the lack of willingness to communicate between functions. It would be beneficial to implement cross-functional teams to make sure up stream and downstream aspects of processes are aligned.