Great company for compensation, benefits - frustrating company to really accomplish anything in your career. - Senior Research Director Dow Employee Review

3.0
13 Dec 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Compensation, HR processes, training, opportunities, very smart people, information technology, global approach.

Cons

- Midland Michigan is a boring small company town where you can't t buy a bag of carrots without 10 people asking you what you're cooking. - Extremely inwardly focused. Very bureaucratic. No idea what goes on in the "real world". People don't understand their own businesses but know Dow like the back of their hand. - No idea how to develop and commercialize new technology. Very focused on high NPV concepts, scared to death of getting hands dirty delivering products (note - I am a Sr. Director R&D leaving company for personal reasons). - No accountability. Lots of chiefs, few indians. Many people able to say "no", no one can say yes. - Functional reporting (e.g., supply supports into supply chain function, R&D reports into R&D function) allows each function to independently create their own goals (and exceed these) while businesses go down the toilet. I couldn't believe some of the things I heard from functional leaders when reviewing disappointing business results. - Revolving door business leadership teams create constant business disruptions.

Explore other reviews about Dow

5.0
11 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great team and company culture room for growth and great experience

Cons

Inflexible schedules Poor management sometimes depending on team

2.0
22 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Safety culture, flexibility (although less and less over time). Good health insurance and 401k match

Cons

Dow’s recent years illustrate the challenges of trying to simultaneously satisfy Wall Street’s demands for strong financial performance and aggressive DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) priorities. The company has heavily emphasized inclusion initiatives, including its openly gay CEO publicly sharing that coming out was one of the best days of his life in an internal communication, along with a notable increase in women appointed to senior leadership roles. Hiring practices reportedly require diverse candidate slates—including female candidates—and diverse interview panels before filling positions. These efforts, while well-intentioned, appear to have contributed to a series of questionable strategic decisions. Employees have borne the brunt through repeated rounds of layoffs (including significant cuts announced in recent years), minimal merit increases often in the 2-3% range, stalled promotions, and little turnover at the top levels of leadership. Senior executives seem insulated from the consequences, potentially overlooking how these factors—including their own leadership—may be central to the company’s ongoing struggles.

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