Zebra Technologies Reviews

I have been working at Zebra Technologies

Pros – Zebra in Vernon Hills provides a fast-paced, interesting work environment for people in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, technical writing, technical support, or related fields with a plenty of room for advancement into project and product management. There's always a challenge around the next corner, a new problem to solve, or a new product to get to market.

Management has been very good about allowing people time to attend to their personal lives, including working from home whenever that is possible. This flexibility makes it more likely for you to want to work harder and easier for you to put in extra time on those occasions where a project is running full steam ahead toward major deadlines. Good job reviews lead to nice yearly raises. Award and patent plaques line the engineering hallways.

Zebra recently made a more liberal vacation policy that allows people up to 4 weeks off per year, plus a week of sick time per calendar year. The benefits through Blue Cross/Blue Shield are decent, as are the vision and dental benefits. As you could imagine, they would all be better if they were free, but they're still not too bad.

It can be nice to be a big fish in a small pond. Because Zebra is a smaller company, you frequently get chances to work outside of your job description to meet new customer or market demands. Overall, we have great products and incredibly talented people, making this one of the best places to work.

Cons – Zebra is a little top-heavy with upper management, who seems to be making decisions solely to please stock holders, not to keep the best employees. A few managers who have been in engineering forever can be jerks, and they have a relatively high turnover compared to other managers.

Zebra is in the process of moving manufacturing to China, so people in engineering are not 100% sure if they will have jobs in a year or two. That has led to a bit of a decrease in morale in the last year. Management would do well to forget about maximizing profits and to just focus on making the best products on the market.

Advice to Senior Management – Bring manufacturing back to the United States. I used to be proud that our products were made in America. Now I have to worry that they're just made in China junk.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Zebra Technologies

Pros – Industry leader with the best products compared to it's competitiors.

Cons – Little communication between upper management and employees. Little concern for employee morale and well being. Culture is more "every man for himself" than team oriented. Ladder climbing no matter what the cost seems to be encouraged.

Advice to Senior Management – Bottom line is important, but so is how you get there.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Zebra Technologies as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Freedom to do your work, no stress at work, work is not really difficult to do.

Cons – Too much freedom, work is not really a challenge

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Zebra Technologies full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great benefits until you sell too much and they have to pay you too much.

Cons – Watch your back, they gave me the corporate "reorganization" heave ho.

Advice to Senior Management – Respect your employee's right to work!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Zebra Technologies full-time for less than a year

Pros – good place to be in and happening place

Cons – world wide recession and shrinking business

Advice to Senior Management – keep phase with happenings around the world and cost and pricing is critical in present times

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

I worked at Zebra Technologies for more than 3 years

Pros – Great products, Competitive Salary, great co-workers

Cons – There is not an opportunity to advance in the company

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Zebra Technologies

Pros – The company has been around for a while and has some really smart folks working there. Great opportunities for learning and self improvement. Most of my peers where very easy to get along with and worked well as a team - friendly environment. Pay is good, maybe a little above average.

Cons – Good ole boy system. It is difficult to move up within the company. Upper management plays favorites and if you are not in the inner circle you will never go anywhere. If you are one of those people that wants a good job and doesn't really care about moving up or any career growth, then Zebra would be perfect for you.

Advice to Senior Management – Open some doors for folks to move up and move around. Personal career growth is important to your employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Zebra Technologies

Pros – Above average compensation for certain postions

Cons – Nobody takes responsibility for their actions, the majority of the time the blame is passed elsewhere.
Management tends to look at everything in dollar signs, often manipulating budgets get bonuses.
The older works still tell stories of how it used to be... but wont admit its gotten worse.
There is a lot of favoritism that goes on with promotions.

Advice to Senior Management – come back from your company paid vacations and look around.
There is a lot of mismanagement non qualified people that need to be fired.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Zebra Technologies

Pros – A terrific company with all the ingredients for success including: excellent brand recognition, broad product portfolio, effective global sales channels, strong financial position, and a fairly talented, dedicated workforce.

Cons – Senior leadership is grossly out of touch with both customers and employees. Strategy and direction seem to shift at the drop of a hat with no apparent understanding of the marketplace. Execution is even weaker with very little focus on planning, resources allocation, or active involvement by senior leadership. Very little value placed on employees as evidenced by limited communications, recognition, development, etc.

Advice to Senior Management – Take a hard look at your senior leadership team! You have far too many and most are grossly ineffective. Focus on building a new, smaller senior leadership team that knows how to obtain market insight, set a winning strategy and insure solid execution through active engagement with employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Zebra Technologies

Pros – Its really difficult to identify the pros when they simply dont exist.

Cons – If you think your hard work will get appreciated and you will get a promotion as a result - forget about it. Just like any other manufacturing company, engineering talent is not appreciated at Zebra. Unless you are in sales or marketing, forget about here staying more than a couple of years with a hope to grow in your field and become a better specialist.

Advice to Senior Management – Management perfectly knows whats going on, but I don't think they want to change anything.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend