Bell reviews

3.9

68% would recommend to a friend

(1,398 total reviews)

Mitch Snyder

90% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Bell has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 1,398 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Bell employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aerospace & Defense industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
1.0
May 31, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Pay is high, but once you factor in the mandatory unpaid overtime it's not as great as it was. -Very generous holiday schedule: almost 3 weeks per year.

Cons

-Mandatory unpaid overtime, with the threat of being laid off if you don't do enough. -The company Only hires new grads, while laying off older workers to limit pension and medical expenses. The brain drain is huge and the company is losing core competencies all the time in the name of saving money. -Management retaliates for using sick time. You'll lose promotions over it. The result is that people are afraid to be out and come to work sick, infecting everyone else. -The company regularly tows cars from the employee lot, then afterwards calls them to let them know. Why not call them in the first place so they could fix the problem BEFORE towing and costing them $250 to get their cars back? -A small number of older workers who are coasting towards retirement are allowed to perform badly and stay. There's no accountability. -Managers copy trendy Silicon Valley habits without understanding why they work elsewhere, and why they don't work at Bell. -The company likes to talk about being "Employer of Choice" and a "Quality of Life Company" up until the financials start looking weak. Then, all that talk disappears until now we're being told to empty our own trashcans because the janitors have been cut back so much. -The company pays lip service to innovation and collaboration, but doesn't trust its workforce enough to unleash them to do those things. Bell is far too risk averse. -The whole performance review process is broken and incapable of identifying and rewarding your accomplishments. On top of that, management games it heavily to suppress raises. No matter how much you do, how much your direct managers praise you, you're still not getting better than 3% per year raises.

avatar
Bell Response
11y
Thank you for your feedback. Over the past several years we have been able to accomplish some great things together and we will do that again. While these next few years will be challenging, we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us to bring three major development programs to market – something that is unheard of in our industry, yet together we are doing it. We are executing to our schedules and are making tremendous progress on each of these programs.
4.0
Dec 17, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay; good brand reputation; innovative designs and products; friendly people; on-site cafeteria if you forget your lunch;

Cons

Healthcare costs passed to employees are too high; promotions are scarce unless you are one of the 30 "golden boys" that get shuffled around a lot; they emphasize the "talent pipeline" which appears to have a leak and good people leave; too many levels of politics/red tape; unstable with layoffs (2011-2015);

1.0
Nov 16, 2016

Operations

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Old products. New products overpriced and won't sell. Built a monster helo right before the oil price plunged and its prototype crashed.

Cons

Shedding anyone over 50 and somehow avoiding age discrimination lawsuits - most times by offering meager "incentives" for people to leave early in lieu of layoff. Intimidation tactics and if you are not under 40, forget about a career. Their CEO is at the heart of this and he won't last 3 years.

Viewing 4 - 6 of 1,398 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,795 Bell reviews submitted anonymously by Bell employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Bell is right for you.