Used to be a great company - Engineering Johnson Controls Employee Review

1.0
Sep 29, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They are getting less and less these days. Some of the good things are... -Brand recognition (that will not last based on the down hill trend in customer service and quality) -Vacation time, they offer a good starting package. Three weeks and three elective holidays. -Most low level managers care about their employees and will work with them to create a good work/life balance.

Cons

Oh were to begin... -Benefits have decreased. Cost of them increased. -Company is no longer giving a 401K match. -All promotions are given based on the FY budget not on merit. I know of at least one example where an employee was told that while they deserved a raise/ promotion it wasn't in the budget so they would have to wait until February to get it. -If you are a hard worker this only means that you will be given an increased workload and expected to do more without compensation or any real recognition from middle/ upper management. -Upper management and "leadership" has adopted a "do more with less" mindset. They called it "Reduced work for reduced pay" when it came to the required furloughs during COVID-19. The problem was there was no reduced work, you were still expected to meet unrealistic project schedules set by upper management despite the reduction in time and support do to layoff during COVID-19. -In the last 2-3 year I have never been talk to like a child in my professional career. "leadership" is certain they know more than you and they remind you of that everyday. No thought or consideration is given to how long you have worked for the company or a given product line...your option doesn't matter. -The company is willing to spend hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars on an "Organization Health" program. As a company we scored a 17 out of 100 on the initial survey and were then told by "leadership" that we misunderstood what this was all meant to be about. They did not want to admit that employees are NOT happy about working for this current "leadership" group. We were then made to take a series of "learning modules" to help improve our score as a company. These included things like how to properly compose an email, how to correctly prioritize your work load and how to not get lost in the "forest of despair"during difficult projects. -The company seems to exist solely to drive share price and line the pockets of senior leaders and shareholders. They are willing to cut cost in anyway possible to increase profit margins and show "growth" overall. -There is a strong feeling and evidence that "leadership" has plans to move the bulk of all of engineering to counties like Coast Rica, India and China. They say it is an effort to become a more globally devise company, which is great but in the last 2 years the engineering department in Milwaukee has been cut by more 60% with those jobs being filled overseas. Another piece of evidence for this is that while the company seems will to hire in other departments, there is a hiring freeze as far as engineering is concerned. -Middle Management (some low level management) is just a collection of "Yes men/women" who will blindly agree to what upper management and "leadership" wants despite the over filled work load and lack of resources to accomplish the given tasks/ projects. -A lack of ethics is becoming more frequent. At one point I was told to release documentation to the factory that everyone knew was incorrect and that we would come back and fix it later. Again this was wanted so that we could meet the project schedule given by middle and upper management. -The main focus is to cut cost. How can we make this cheaper(most of the time at the expanse of quality) and still hold out profit margins.

Explore other reviews about Johnson Controls

5.0
Jan 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. Great opportunity for advancement in many different rolls 2. Excellent talent pool! You get to work with highly experienced leader within the industry who are willing to teach you and take interest in your career. 3. Great benefits 4. Work/Life flexibility is great

Cons

I do not have any at this time. I feel this is a company I can retire from

avatar
Johnson Controls Response
5mo
Thank you so much for sharing your positive experience with Johnson Controls as a Control Systems Team Leader. Your input will help us in our mission to foster the best possible workplace for our teammates.
4.0
Jun 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent base pay and fast paced work makes the days go by quickly. Lately the company has been actually investing in their new product lines ever since Joakim became our CEO.

Cons

The compensation is lacking. No bonuses whatsoever for senior level engineers even when they're recognized as a key contributor on the team. We are given our 401k match on March 1st to cover the previous year's matches so you lose out on a lot of the year's market gains. The healthcare coverage is mediocre at best for a fortune 500 company. The raises are still given like it's 2018; 3% is considered a "good" merit increase. This is due to the "forced distribution" merit increase system where only "so many" people can receives "above expectations" raises.

avatar
Johnson Controls Response
2d
Thank you for taking the time to provide important input on our compensation and benefits as a Senior Mechanical Engineer. At Johnson Controls, we aim to provide competitive pay and a robust benefits plan that supports our employees' well-being. We’ll use this information to continually improve our offerings.
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