Beware your incentive pay, vacation - Process Engineer 3M Employee Review

3.0
Dec 17, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Stable company with very diverse markets Some products are very cutting-edge technology Good mid-level management Many of their factories are in small towns where it is cheap to live, if you like living in small towns Pay is decent

Cons

Company holds back a percentage of your pay each month for salaried employees, and based on how the company and division perform in the year, you get a payment in March. If the company exceeds their plan, you get a bigger payout. If they have a rough year, you get less or maybe not anything at all if it is really bad. But beware their trickery! This year they changed it from US & International sales to solely US sales. International was the bulk of business, so they found a way to pay their employees less. New changes to their vacation policy are also upsetting. All vacation is given at the beginning of the year and must be used by Dec 31st, or it disappears. Problem is, some years the plants will close down at Christmas so everybody saves their vacation until the end of the year. Then when end-of-the-year orders come through, everybody has to work. So either take your vacation in the summer and take leave without pay in December, or hold on to your vacation and watch it disappear in December when you're buried in work.

Explore other reviews about 3M

5.0
May 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great collaboration and tiered management system

Cons

They use old planning systems

3.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Company investing in new products and higher growth markets

Cons

Over the past five years, there has been a significant decline in employee loyalty and incentive programs. Equity compensation, such as stock options and RSUs, was previously accessible to mid-level managers but is now strictly reserved for directors and above, reducing long-term incentives for a large portion of the workforce. Additionally, an increase in micromanagement and administrative red tape—particularly regarding strict scrutiny on all spending—has hindered productivity. The frequent practice of cutting budgets to meet short-term quarterly Operating Income (OI) targets is ultimately compromising our long-term revenue growth.

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