Glassdoor - Blog - Part 147

February 5th, 2009

Finding an Even Better Job

Posted by Glassdoor Team • February 5th, 2009 • 1 Comment

With the hundreds and thousands of lay-offs over the past few months, there is no doubt that there are a lot of people looking for work right now. For some, they are looking to get any job they can to help pay the bills, but for others, perhaps this is an opportunity to take a step back from the work you had been doing and decide if there just might be something better out there for you.

We recently read a great post by Penelope Trunk on her blog, Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist, that addresses this issue. It includes some great tips on beating the system when it comes to getting the job you want (hint: it requires a little extra work on your part). Even if you’re still employed but thinking about jumping ship, this is a great article to read to get your mind in the right place for landing that dream gig.

Tags:: Job Search

Obama Salary Caps and Transparency

Posted by Glassdoor Team • February 4th, 2009 • 402 Comments

As we’ve written about a few times on the blog, the first few weeks of Obama’s presidency has included a number of interesting, job-related milestones. The most recent of these is Obama’s salary cap for those who received government bailout money. The cap is set at $500,000, and affects the executives at companies including Bank of America, CitiGroup, Chrysler and America Internal Group (AIG).

In addition to the salary caps, the new rules also provide greater transparency to the shareholders of these organizations as to how money is spent. This includes not only salary details of top officials, but also things such as holiday parties, office renovations and conferences and other events.

At Glassdoor, we applaud greater transparency and hope to see more related to compensation at all levels of the organization. In addition to today’s news, the Treasury department is also planning a conference on executive reform, where they will discuss the potential of creating compensation committees for all public financial institutions.

Tags:: Layoffs

Would More Salary Transparency Have Helped Lilly Ledbetter?

Posted by Glassdoor Team • February 1st, 2009 • 370 Comments

Last week, the first piece of legislation President Obama signed into law was the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Ms. Ledbetter had filed suit against Goodyear, alleging her Goodyear Salary was less than her male counterparts, many of whom she had trained during her nearly 20-year tenure and had far less seniority.

Lilly Ledbetter/AP

Ms. Ledbetter had won a pay discrimination suit but that was later thrown out by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision, citing she should have filed suit 180 days after she was first paid less than her male counterparts. The new law expands workers’ rights to sue in this kind of case, and relaxed the statute of limitations, restarting the six-month clock every time the worker receives a paycheck. Some say the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act isn’t enough. Some say it could make suits worse.

We think this is an important move to address unjustified pay inequality, but we’re still left with the burning question, How do people really know if they are fairly paid or underpaid for the work they do?

Tags:: Lilly Ledbetter, Salary Transparency

Movie Magic? Netflix Reports Profit

Posted by Glassdoor Team • January 28th, 2009 • 3 Comments

Amidst today’s regular news reports of home foreclosures, sinking corporate profits and high unemployment rates, Netflix breaks away from the pack and posts a quarterly profit increase of 45 percent this week.

So what’s the “secret sauce” that has this company doing so well in a down economy? Well, maybe many people are foregoing trips to the movie theatre and are instead watching DVDs on their couch, but you won’t get a detailed economic analysis from us. What we have seen from the Netflix reviews on Glassdoor.com is that Netflix is mixing their own recipe for success in creating a great work environment. The company is known as a great employer in Silicon Valley and currently has an overall rating of 4.1 on Glassdoor.com with a slightly higher rating of 4.4 at the company’s headquarters location in Los Gatos, Calif.

A culture rich in collaboration and teamwork is one key ingredient to the company’s great work environment, according to many employees. Here’s what an Netflix Engineering Director had to say:

Netflix is a great place to work with an extraordinary group of people – There’s no micro managing here and everyone is allowed to take responsibility for their own projects. There’s an amazing ...

Tags:: Benefits, Best Place to Work, Netflix

Apple Celebrates 25 Unforgettable Years

Posted by Glassdoor Team • January 27th, 2009 • 1 Comment

For 25 years Apple has been a leader in setting the standard for computer design and innovation with its Mac products. Last week, AppleInsider.com posted an informative history of how the Mac has evolved since its inception. Today’s Macophiles range from people who just appreciate their Mac to true fanatics who love all things Apple.

Due to the numerous product achievements and the company’s reputation, Apple continues to be a highly sought after employer – both at its Silicon Valley corporate headquarters and at its offices and retail stores located around the globe. For example, currently on Glassdoor.com Apple receives an 3.7 company rating in its headquarter location in Cupertino, CA and also receives high marks in its location in Paris where it receives a 5.0 company rating.

In honor of Apple’s 25 years, we thought we would take a look at what has made the company so great. Here are some Apple Reviews by employees that highlight why they enjoy working at Apple and what has probably led to their many years of success.

Tags:: Apple, AppleInsider, Mac

Employers: What size is the first shoe? Make sure it’s big enough!

Posted by Rusty Rueff • January 26th, 2009 • 2 Comments

If first round of job cuts aren’t deep enough, there may be a second shoe.

We are experiencing (as predicted earlier) another larger than last month set of job losses. Companies have come back from the holidays and enacted reductions that were on the drawing board but were held off until the New Year.

We’re also beginning to see second rounds of cuts from companies that made modest reductions late last year and are having to now drop a “second shoe.” Unless there has been very transparent communication that a secondary reduction would have to happen if certain metrics were not achieved, multiple rounds of layoffs is the worst thing that can happen for morale and management credibility.

Unfortunately, I have been at the planning helm of multiple layoff actions within my career (the darkest days and the most shameful moments of my career) and each time that the conversations and analysis was happening about how deep the cuts should be, I was the one who said, “cut deep enough now that we don’t have to come back later”. My experience says that any percentage cut of less than 10% becomes nothing more than cosmetic. The truth is that there is at ...

Tags:: Layoffs, Motorola, Rusty Rueff, Schlumberger, Starbucks

Obama Political Win Means Job Loss and Job Win

Posted by Glassdoor Team • January 23rd, 2009 • 7 Comments

Although debatable, there may be no other place in the country feeling such intense shifts in the workplace as in Washington DC.

In a series of moves to tighten up operations involving the White House, President Barack Obama moved to freeze the salaries of high-paid aides in a mostly symbolic nod to the country’s economic turmoil. Obama was quoted saying “Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington.”

In addition to the cut backs felt by high ranking aides, there is one group of government employees in particular, Schedule C employees, that may be feeling the shifts in jobs and salary more dramatically than others. Schedule C are usually political appointed positions and are employees who are subject to change at the discretion of a new Administration.

According to Politico.com, there are about 2,000 Schedule C political appointments that younger campaign staffers can hope to fill. However they report that “most of those jobs will remain empty until Cabinet nominees and agency administrators fill the 900 to 1,000 senior executive service positions, including chiefs of staff. According to one estimate, many of those Schedule C positions won’t be filled before March or May, so buckle in for a long ride.”

As reported by About.com, ...

Tags:: Government, Obama

Merrill Lynch CEO Calls It Quits Following Bonus Scandal

Posted by Glassdoor Team • January 22nd, 2009 • 1,264 Comments

John Thain, former Merrill Lynch CEO, signed his resignation papers this morning after a significant 4th quarter loss.

BusinessWeek reports “the latest problem for Thain, a former head of the New York Stock Exchange (NYX), was news reports that some former top Merrill executives had gotten their bonuses on the eve of the brokerage’s merger with BofA, which raised eyebrows in light of the hefty $15.4 billion fourth-quarter loss. Thain also drew headlines in December 2008 when he sought a $10 million bonus from Merrill’s board, but he quickly backed away from that fight.”

Check out how some of the company salaries for BofA employees compare to those of Merrill Lynch employees.

Bank of America Salaries
Merrill Lynch Salaries

Tags:: Bank of America, BusinessWeek, John Thain, Merrill Lynch

Fortune Announces Best Places to Work: How does it compare?

Posted by Glassdoor Team • January 22nd, 2009 • 1,516 Comments

As some of you may know in late December 2008, Glassdoor announced the Employee’s Choice Best Places to Work award. Today, Fortune has announced their annual 100 Best Places to Work For. See below the top 50 companies that made their list and the top 50 companies that made the Glassdoor list.

Here are some of the highlights when comparing the top 50 Best Places to Work:

Only 30% of companies recognized by Fortune made it into Glassdoor’s employee-selected top 10 companies
11 companies make both Glassdoor and Fortunes Top 50 Best Places to Work (see those highlighted in yellow)
Glassdoor’s #1 Best Place to Work, General Mills, falls to 99th place on Fortune’s list
Fortune’s #1 Best Place to Work, NetApp, makes the 10th spot on Glassdoor’s list

It’s surprising to see that eBay pops up on Fortune’s Top 100 list as a Best Place to Work. Based on the company ratings available at Glassdoor, eBay was actually one of the lowest rated companies according to employees. Currently eBay receives a modest 2.8 company rating and CEO John Donahoe garners a low 20% approval rating. (eBay ranked 83rd on the Fortune list)

Glassdoor 50 Best Places to Work
Fortune Best Places to Work

Rank
Company
Company

1
General Mills
NetApp

2
Bain & Company
Edward ...

Tags:: Fortune, General Mills, NetApp

Life within Circuit City is Full of Surprises, just not the good kind…

Posted by Glassdoor Team • January 21st, 2009 • 27 Comments

CNET reporter Brooke Crothers wrote an interesting article this past Saturday about the changes within Circuit City not only felt by the consumer. Sure consumers may benefit from the drastic price reductions in the stores, but what is it like for the employees when a company is going through a massive liquidation and layoffs?

In a brief interview the CNET reporter had with a store manager, the employee had this to say “as of Saturday, her new immediate boss was the person from the liquidation company. That person, in effect, was now running the show.” Based on the reporter’s own experience, combined with additional comments from employees, there was a sense of ‘sheer pandemonium’ within the store in Southern California.

Apparently, many employees were taken by surprise because they felt their store would somehow make it through what management coined as ‘reorganization’. In addition, a female employee at the Circuit City was interviewed regarding the liquidation and was quoted saying, “no one knew it would happen–until it happened.”

It appears that the unexpected events are something that may have been carried down from the higher echelons of the company. This past week a Circuit City Senior Manager in Richmond, VA commented in a ...

Tags:: Best Buy, Circuit City, Layoffs

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