Canon U.S.A. reviews

Having worked for many years at this once proud and nimble company, it was heartbreaking to witness its rapid decline over the past several years. It would not surprise me if Canon was the next Kodak: a company too hidebound and entrenched in its ways to entertain any concept of flexibility or change, from the products it offers to the way it treats its employees. In recent years (the last 5 or so), Canon USA has been content (and boastful) of its ability to squeeze every last ounce of profit from its revenues (selling products and services don't account much for their profitability any longer). Of course, the way they do this is to cut everything, particularly people and employee services. That was a theme in my last years there and it's a quaint way of doing business; substitute cost cutting for revenue. Fortunately, they're not a public company and so don't have to risk the ire of shareholders for their stunningly bad performance. Executives and other upper management hang around for years insulated as they are from this ire, even if their best days, and the market itself, have long passed them by. This is not a long-term growth strategy. The problem is that the products Canon once sold to dominate the market: cameras, faxes, printers, and copiers, have all seen steep declines in sales. Although its sales of Medical products may be on the rise, it's incremental revenue at best for a company that used to rely on robust sales of consumer products and copiers to be profitable. Canon in general, and Canon USA in particular, is a company that was built for double, and even triple, the revenue it actually generates. The result is poor prospects for survival, even if it was a generous employer, which it most assuredly is not. Steeply declining sales and poor revenues are bad enough for any company. However, when you combine this with a draconian and archaic approach to human resources, the result is deadly. Employees, regardless of whether they're exempt or not, must "punch a clock"; they are "docked" an hour even if they're literally a second late. This is no joke as some of the other reviews of the company on this site support. The maniacal focus of Japanese management on employees "stealing time" (yes, this is the actual terms they use) creates an atmosphere of fear and resentment among most rank and file American employees (and even among middle and upper management). The company keeps telling the lie to anyone who will listen that its "employees are its most important asset". This is not even remotely true, as even the most devoted Canon USA employees will confirm. And that's a shame because there's still a lot of really decent, hard working, intelligent employees that remain of what's left of this company. But they aren't promoted, fairly compensated or otherwise treated with humanity. They are essentially fungible and disposable in the eyes of Canon USA management.That's why they leave in droves in 3 years or less. If you're interested in a starter company with a great reputation, despite its precipitous decline, then this is the right choice for you - at least until the employment market figures out this deception, which won't be long. Even among the Company's professional ranks - accountants, attorneys etc., employees are treated like children and are encouraged to believe in an alternate universe of facts. American management in these areas are too concerned about pleasing their Japanese management (as well as certain ossified American management), then truly managing. So much so, that up is down, and down is up, even among people that should know better and who are bound by their ethical obligations to speak truth to power. Those who fall in line with the alternate universe theory, and are careful to remind their managers how on board they are with this theory, are quickly promoted at the expense of more competent personnel. It's sad that the company I once loved has been taken over by a herd of zombie yes men and women. So, if you're trying to pad your resume, this company is the place for you - for now anyway. But forget about the future. There isn't one for you at this company, or even for the company itself.

Canon disrespects their employees, treating them like misbehaving children. They are hung up on punctuality, actually calling people out for being 8 seconds late. I was reprimanded once for leaving at 4:58 on a Friday. Never mind if you come in early, stay late, or take a short lunch, they don't care. Flextime is not allowed, nor is working from home. I was laid off recently during a 'reorg.' We were each brought down to HR, our things were fetched, and we were marched out the front door, driven to our cars, and made to leave campus immediately. Like criminals. More layoffs are rumored. People are just not buying cameras. There's not a lot of room for growth, and a lot of Japanese in upper management.