A lot of uncertainty with changes currently going on - Anonymous 3M Employee Review

3.0
Oct 26, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are a lot of career opportunities, leadership development programs and learning tools to take advantage of. People generally are more collaborative than competitive. Theoretically you can grow to high levels (and pay) without having to be a manager of people. A stronger than average culture of listening to ideas and empowering people to do improvements themselves.

Cons

A lot of radical changes are taking place too fast. In general most of the changes make sense in strategical terms, but there is the feeling the company is rushing to get them done, and then new changes come that conflict with changes that haven't finalized. There have been restructuring measures essentially once a year over the last 5 years, all of them obeying to distinct strategies and situations and impacting different areas of the company, but overall sentiment from people I know is that there is no longer any sense that your job is secure. Many of these changes are announced with so little detail that people can't even start to understand them; this feels like lack of transparency and that leaders would rather not let employees know what is happening to have them under their control.

Explore other reviews about 3M

5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good company to work for.

Cons

Large corp culture for employees

4.0
Jun 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Compensation is genuinely competitive — one of the stronger-paying manufacturing roles you'll find in the area. Benefits package is comprehensive and well above average. The retirement account and stock options are a real standout, especially for a machine operator role; 3M clearly invests in its employees long-term. Day-to-day, the people on the floor make the job. Coworkers were hardworking and easy to get along with, which goes a long way in a production environment. Upper management is what you'd expect from a large corporation — a bit removed from the floor — but that's pretty standard for a company of that size, Not a deal breaker.

Cons

The shift schedule is rough. Rotating between 12-hour days and nights on a swing schedule sounds manageable on paper, but constantly flipping your sleep schedule takes a real toll over time. Work-life balance is difficult to maintain when your "days off" are often spent just recovering and readjusting, and you can easily miss out on normal life things — social plans, family time, errands — simply because your schedule doesn't line up with the rest of the world that week. Upper management can also be a friction point. When people who haven't touched the machines in years (or ever) come to the floor with strong opinions about how things should run, it creates frustration. The folks actually operating the equipment day in and day out develop real expertise, and that doesn't always feel acknowledged from above.

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