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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

Is this your company?

Depends on your area/team - Senior Assembler Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Employee Review

2.0
12 Dec 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits and employee amenities, lot's of opportunities for advancement if you are in the right area. Executive team is comprised of great folks.

Cons

If you find yourself in the Manufacturing sector, you will find that DEI has run rampant, that you are treated like a child, and don't get the same respect, pay increases, or even computer use that employees in other areas enjoy. Also, SEL has manufacturing facilities in four states and in Mexico. I can only speak to my experience in Pullman, WA. Out of the fourteen Supervisors in my building, only four have had previous supervisory experience. Out of the seven female supervisors, all but one are attractive and were promoted from within the lower ranks. In my building, the majority of supervisors have fostered a toxic environment where employees are treated in a patronizing manner. SEL often emphasizes the importance of asking 'why' five times to uncover the root cause of a problem. However, here, you're only allowed to ask once. Further questioning or challenging the given answers is met with reprimand, and any scrutiny of the processes is frowned upon. There's a lack of accountability for employees who fail to perform their duties properly, exhibit tardiness, behave rudely towards colleagues, return late from breaks or lunch, disregard dress codes, leave tools unreturned, and contribute to a generally toxic workplace atmosphere. Conversely, if an employee inadvertently uses an incorrect pronoun or expresses conservative or Christian viewpoints, they face reports to HR and disciplinary action. I also learned quickly that giving honest feedback about fellow employee's areas of improvement opportunities was not a good idea. If you said something negative about one of the supervisor's pet employees, you would get a negative review.

Explore other reviews about Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

5.0
8 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Plenty of friendly faces to work with.

Cons

Reluctant to hire certain places sometimes.

4.0
8 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Right job for some people. If you buy into the koolaid and are passionate about the power industry this can be an incredible job for you. The benefits are pretty great. I really enjoyed my coworkers, all of them feel human and are earnest. You can live quite cheaply in Pullman. There is an incredible amount of job security. SEL boasts they've never done a layoff. Additionally their ESOP distribution is generous - though it takes 6 years to fully vest. There is a lot of things I really admire about the company and the culture.

Cons

Comp is lower side. A lot of people are hired out of college and have only ever worked at SEL so sometimes I feel like there is a bit of an echo chamber. Small town. I really struggled with the initial allocation of 12 days PTO. 17 after 2 years is much easier. As a SWE, the company feels very catered to their power engineers. Company is very traditional in its values, people wear suits to work. Seems like the timeline for promotion is quite slow for SWE compared to other companies. I see a lot of friction when lower level engineers trying to advocate for changes; though I do think that the conversations with leadership happen in good faith.

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