Worst firm ever; management. PACCAR - Let go the undesirables. - Engineer PACCAR Employee Review

1.0
Mar 16, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Regular paycheck, clean environment, and quailty product brands. Very large firm and chance to position yourself.

Cons

This employer puts employees down and makes them either feel less than valuable.; uses opportunity to discard anyone deemed as less than desirable. The method for this is the review process. PACCAR use yearly goals for employees and then rate one as meets needs or exceeds. I know of a pair of cases where managers were told they needed to rate an employee specifically (which employee stands out the most and which employee does not). If a person was too quiet and not well known in round table discussions a manager could claim: " this employee is my least _____". If nobody spoke up (to counter or defend) then merit would be given to the manager if they fired the employee. At PACCAR interviews you may be asked if you have ever had to fire someone. With such a large head count you will need to master this skill! Further: In order to fire that person in one case I saw the manager had no real reason (employee was never tardy, never used substances, was simply not someone that could be outright fired); hence the manager attempted a scheme: task the employee with difficult projects well above their level/pay grade and maybe they will fail or leave on their own. In one case that backfired for the said manager as the employeee did the task so well, that they became noticed and were a standout. Still not wanting the employee as driven on the merit that "if I fire the person I will apply for a Director job promotion", the manager gave the employee goals that simply could not be accomplished. Simple goals but steered the employee into failure by telling them "not to worry about completion" of a said goal at present time, "we shall complete it at a later date". This then, during the goals review was reversed where the manager said to the employee " you failed to meet the goal" his or her goals causing or resulting them a NEEDS rating in the review. This at PACCAR immediately throws one into a PIP which is a "you will improve or else we will fire you". It is an incredibly painful process that requires the employee to go through PACCAR counseling meetings where a manager and or an assigned employee is tasked to scrutinze the emoyee asking them: What they know about the firm; Why they are here to begin with, how they plan to succeed, and whether they can succeed. The whole time there is no improvement plan as likely there was no merit to the PIP! In the case of one employee I knew, their review was tendered a NEEDS but the employee (then led by a different manager) was found to have no such deficiencies by their new manager. The said former manager however, communicated displeasure about his former employee to the new team manager in closed door meetings and the PIP was a formality (meant nothing) and in time they were let go. The unfortunate issue with this particular case is the employee was there several years with good reviews at PACCAR and it was a particular manager that he transferred into (to work for) who needed to fire the undesirables (PACCAR rule) so he was setup to be fired. PACCAR - Let go the underisables. I can recall another case where an employee was forced out when he became ill from a terminal disease. The cruelty of PIP harassment was applied to this same person and they were forced to retire/leave even though the employee saud they did not want to for financial reasons. The issue with the tactic of removal of employees is not the purge of poor employees but the merit a manager receives if they do so; a promotion etc. The problem being a lot of good employees are let go if they are "unnoticed", "quiet", "not well known", the boss does not like them". I saw in one case a colleague was placed on a PIP even though there was no evidence for it. PACCAR Culture: The things you have read or heard about "not using the elevator (engineers must use stairs), engineers shall wear ties, engineers must become clean shaven during opcom visits" are absolutely TRUE! Those things are part of the Piggott familly tradition at KW in Kirkland, WA and you need to learn to swallow the PACCAR koolaid. Bottom line: Really bad place and bad experience; advice = stay away!

Explore other reviews about PACCAR

5.0
May 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Wonderful internship experience. I truly enjoyed every aspect of the internship, from the people and team culture to the meaningful projects and great location. It was an incredibly positive learning experience, and I would highly recommend working there.

Cons

While the business professional dress code may not be for everyone, I personally didn’t mind it and felt it contributed to the professional environment.

1.0
Apr 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Not much, if you want a place that's okay with mediocrity, then welcome.

Cons

They blindly follow industry trends not industry standards. We have an initiative to use AI to increase productivity, without a proper plan, without security in mind and lack of general understanding. Consistently understaffed, for example there are teams or parts if teams that have max 4 developer type roles with 36 apps or APIs to support - this has lead to inconsistent code and effort as employees are spread too thin to be able to deliver quality work. Management refuses to take responsibility for issues that arise from being understaffed. Teams are not consistent in what tools and pipelines are used causing even more confusion and delays. Double standards: they don't want to properly promote or give raises to hard workers. Upper management made it clear to direct managers that "meets expectations" was a fine thing to give... To employees doing more than their fair share of work and are doing work outside of their role since they have no one else to do it do to being understaffed.

3
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