Caterpillar reviews

4.0

78% would recommend to a friend

(7,309 total reviews)

Joe Creed

68% approve of CEO

74% positive business outlook

Caterpillar has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 7,309 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Caterpillar employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

7K reviews
3.0
Feb 1, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They'll hire you straight out of college with no work experience. They don't require a great degree of technical skill, so if that's a weak area for you, don't worry. The hours are generally not very demanding, I've never had a job where I actually had to consistently work 40 hours a week. Your work experience will vary widely depending on who your supervisor is, so it's hard to predict how strict or laid back you'll be able to be.

Cons

They are currently in the middle of a downturn and having layoffs. Which would not be so bad, but in the 8 years I've been here, I've seen 3-4 layoffs. They don't seem to do a very good job predicting how things will go. All of the pain is felt by the rank and file employees, while the corporate officers don't seem to be punished at all for providing poor leadership and guidance. This is also not a good place to work if you want to grow and learn. They talk a good game, but ultimately you're just going to be learning more about Caterpillar. The longer you work here, the more you're going to be stuck working here.

3.0
Jan 30, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Used to be the best company I ever worked for until I got majorly played. Benefits were good. Most of the time employees were treated like real people.

Cons

You're really just a number. Have to follow the political game if you want to get ahead. If you're not in the boss,s click you're not going anywhere. They tell lies about your future.

1.0
Aug 28, 2014

You will learn there is a right way, a wrong way and the Cat way!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay and bonuses (but they jack with the pay-out formula every year to make it harder to achieve)

Cons

Too many to list, but if I had one complaint it is that there are a lot of the good ol' boy network that still exists. A lot of managers don't deserve to be in their positions and if you question them, they get indignant and you are automatically on their list - and they will figure out a way to get rid of you. Other than that, you have a CEO who is a wannabe celebrity who likes to appear on MSNBC and CNN only when there is something good to report - when times are tough he is as quiet as a church mouse. The company is buying back stock because they have nothing better to invest in other than themselves - it helps artificially boost the stock price and of course those at the top of the company have a LOT of stock - check Yahoo finance and look at all the inside option transactions after a stock bump. If you are thinking that this is a green company, a diverse company, and inclusive company, a sustainable company then guess again - they latch on to every hot-button issue you can think of and install an office and an official with some staff so they can SAY they care about the environment, etc., but the bottom line is they know talking the talk is a way to promote themselves - they don't actually care about these programs as much as they do the benefit they get by saying they embrace them. - Just an FYI to anyone who may care to read this - CAT will be making a lot of product in Mexico in the future to avoid all the pitfalls of doing business in the USA.

Viewing 28 - 30 of 7,309 Reviews

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