Audubon Companies reviews

Cons - simply to many to list however lets stick to facts that can't be disputed at this time. * Poor project management - many young and inexperienced PM's who haven't mastered their own engineering discipline much less all others and the art of client management as well. Other PM's that have some experience have it in other areas such as fabrication and have no solid EPC experience. This leads to failed projects where the client wishes to schedule rule. Example, it was not uncommon to issue deliverables out of sequence. Not uncommon for a PM to demand that such things like piping ISO's be issued before HAZOP. No, that is not a joke. This put a ridiculous amount of stress on the engineering and design disciplines and resulted in massive rework. When change orders were submitted they were met with angry resistance because poor project management. No project controls to speak of because the PM's dictated that the schedules reflect what they wanted and in the end when project budgets and schedules were over ran, you ended up with an unhappy client and engineering and design were always to blame not the root cause which was poor project management. Houston and Denver are primarily Midstream driven while the Louisiana offices in Metairie and Baton Rouge are more Offshore and Downstream driven. Houston and Denver focus on what could be a very productive and profitable sector however due to arrogance of senior management they fail miserably. Example - they honestly believe that a cryogenic gas plant is the same no matter if it's commissioned in South Texas or Ohio. They can't seem to understand that each project is different - never taking into consideration client needs, process conditions, control system or soil conditions which all can add to the cost of doing a project. Poor communication and frustration across the engineering groups cause many disciplines to shut down to communicate meaning they simply do what they have to get their deliverables done and not worry about others. If you enjoy working in a vacuum then Audubon is the place for you. In the last 24 months there have been three engineering managers.. in the coming weeks the third is out and new one will be named. Let me remind potential employees that this is an engineering company and having that many managers is not a good thing.

Management doesn't do a good job. The owners appear to be trying to step back and turn the reins over to new senior management. The engineers that they have hired to do this either lack the vision or the ability to keep everybody focuses. Many customers were upset because Audubon overcommitted themselves to work. Ultimately, this led to missing deadlines and losing customers. They were also very unrealistic about billing rates. They refused to target customers in industries with more competition, like downstream and petrochem and imbed people at customer sites. As a result, they missed the opportunity to prepare for the downturn in the upstream industry and was forced to lay many people off. Many former employees are bitter for different reasons. This is pretty typical, not just for Audubon. But, be careful if you are considering a career there. It may seem to be all flowers and roses, but they grew fast and shrunk faster. Hiring and firing is done capriciously, seemingly at the whim of management.