American Electric Power reviews

Customers and it isnot a place to work at if youhave children because you are on call.

Political climate, baby boomers abound, work life balance Politically, the majority of people in my work area (territory in generation typically rural) are conservative Republicans, which can make for a difficult work climate at times, being more liberal myself. I think that upper management is typically conservative as well but not wearing their political views on their shoulder like a lot of the people I work with (picture a chip). This does create a culture of defiance to diversity and EEO programs, although AEP continues to receive recognition for best places to work as a woman/mother, minority, military, and other awards (check AEP website), in the area where I work and other areas, including TX, OK, LA, AR, WV, IN, KY, OH, MI, VA I've seen the climate become a lot more volatile since the election of our current Democratic president. That being said I do think there are areas within the company that aren't this way, I just haven't seen it in my area. This is a fairly large company. Generation is inhabited by many baby boomers. The majority of the plants were built a long time ago so the jobs were/have been taken and held by the baby boomers for awhile. I'm sure you've read about the knowledge loss from retirements in other industries. Power generation is no different and probably more so in danger. There has been low hiring and turn over in this area and AEP is no different. Now that the economics are the way they are less people are retiring and hiring freezes are in place. This can be okay for learning the skills required for the job but can make it difficult for a younger, progressive like myself to fit in with the culture. Work life balance as discussed above is a pro and a con. Outages can be long. When there isn't an outage you're planning for the next outage. It can be very demanding with the salary (average) and benefits being the rewards.