Disappointing - Anonymous employee Cummins Employee Review

2.0
May 25, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you work at headquarters, then you live in Pawnee, IN.... The work life balance at Cummins is decent (if you aren't in a plant). If you are still at work at 5pm, then you are one of the last people in the office to leave. Bonuses are based on performance reviews, and it is surprisingly easy to be above average. They have demoted the role of Six Sigma in the business. To someone that is a huge proponent of process improvement that shouldn't be a pro, but the Six Sigma program that Cummins had in place was laughable. It encouraged faulty analysis and meaningless projects that reported huge savings with no noticeable financial impact. In the past it was merely a hoop to jump through to enable promotion.

Cons

Innovation is purposefully painful at Cummins. If you are interested in your career accomplishing something, then I wouldn't recommend working here. I realize that this sounds like an angry former employee, but looking back it was insane how difficult meaningless things were to change. This is evident by the amount of workarounds that exist at the company. There is a joke that Cummins is run by Excel, and that is because critical systems and analysis is done in excel, because none of the corporate systems are capable. Cummins is incentivized by its stock holders to keep doing what they are doing. They are risk-adverse and show it in every decision. A few common sayings at Cummins that make me laugh: Cummins is a supplier of diesel engines to companies that make diesel engines. 9 out of the top 10 customers make their own diesel engines. Translation - Cummins is in a horrible competitive environment. This, along with macro-economic trends, make layoffs and down-sizing a common occurrence (basically every 4-5 years). Cummins new engines are environmentally friendly. They are so clean that in some places in the U.S. (usually the claim is L.A.) the air coming out of the engine is cleaner than the area going in. They clean the air. Translation - In every other place in the U.S. the air coming out of the engines is dirtier than the air going in... Being better than the past is not itself an accomplishment worthy of praise. At Cummins most people move positions about every 2 years, so you can try out a bunch of different positions to find what you like. Translation - Most people don't like what they are doing, and are constantly looking for something that they will enjoy at the company. These moves are mostly lateral.

Explore other reviews about Cummins

5.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great mentorship, great leadership, projects were challenging but very helpful to me growing as an engineer. Hosted lots of employee and intern events

Cons

Rural Indiana--not a lot to do as a young person in the immediate area

2.0
Mar 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most the people are okay. BUT this place is TOXIC AF They do not give you a 30min lunch, they take 30min out of your check, but they give you 30min away from your machine, so if you have to walk 2 to 3 min to and from your zone you barely get 25min for lunch, One of the new people was clocking out for 30 min for their lunch and was actually told if you clock out for 30 min you have taken a longer lunch than you are allowed.

Cons

Upper Management doesn't care or doesn't listen to employees, There is nothing on earth that will make people want to be there for 13days in a row, I used to hear at Cummins you have to follow the standard work, now its do whatever you have to to get your numbers. You DO NOT Provide enough time off, not when you are running people 13d in a row. you provide enough time off for a 40h work week nothing more, Get it into your thick skulls.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All