Under-trained managers who blamed their subordinates for their own mistakes - Manufacturing Engineer SLB Employee Review

1.0
Aug 23, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good training system, processes well-defined. - Good place to start a career.

Cons

- Under-trained managers (i.e. : new managers who were not from manufacturing experience taking up manufacturing role especially during new factory setup, HR manager who was a secretary previously, managers who blamed their subordinates for their own mistakes, etc.) - Rules which are out of this world, which does not apply to a typical manufacturing setup (i.e.: For instance, one cannot drive >15km/h within the factory compound. So how does the security proves that you drive >15km/h? There’s no concrete proof that one have violated the speeding rule. So, if the security guard don’t like you, he/she can just simply say that you are driving >15km/h. Another interesting rule is, one MUST reverse park & before reverse park, one must horn first to let people around you (if there’s any) that you are reversing. Every staff must take driving test which is conducted every 2-3years.) - Maybe the plant setup is still new, but I noticed a lot of double standards. For instance, when we travel from Penang to Norway, their daily allowance was only RM100/day (USD33/day). McDonald’s in Norway is about RM80/meal (USD25/meal). So, go figure. Conversely, when they travel from Norway to Penang, they were given RM500/day (USD160/day).

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5.0
Apr 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

benefits, vacation, 401k, I love working for SLB

Cons

I wish they had a better way of promoting.

1.0
Jun 17, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good people at the local level. The work is engaging and challenging.

Cons

Too many to count. Career advancements are extremely limited. Pay raises are minimal and don't get close to keeping up with inflation even for top performers. At the corporate level they are using acquisitions to hide massive layoffs. They return billions in profit to investors consistently, but there is still a constant threat of layoffs and multiyear freezes on pay raises even with inflation and solid corporate profit.

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