Hire and trust experts, not only Asians. Become experts, not jack of all trades, master of none. - Applications Engineer Advantech Employee Review

2.0
Jan 12, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Well known company in the industrial PC market and leader in several categories. Continuously growing company. Great facilities in their headquarters building in Taiwan. Flexible time (depends on your manager, of course). They tend to promote from within. Every day free dinner at HQ, and they offer lunch that is cheaper than the average in that area. It is possible to network with important people at a wide range of industrial and technological companies. Simple hiring and on-board process with extensive training if necessary. Ample opportunities for learning, mainly through self-training.

Cons

This company is the biggest in the industrial PC market because of the cheer amount of vertical markets in which they act, not because of product quality or innovation. In other words, they are jack of all trades, master of none. An official company policy is to allow fierce internal competition which in theory is great but in reality is terrible. Another official policy from HR is that they will do whatever is cheapest for the company regardless of the circumstances. A few ex-colleagues sued the company. All decisions are centralized and must be approved by HQ. Due to time difference with the RBUs this means a lot of late night or early morning conference calls. Often for support the staff in HQ decide to just ignore emails or send incomplete or irrelevant responses to buy themselves time. Salary is average or below average so they prefer to hire mainly Asians who will tolerate these low salaries. Asians are promoted more frequently than their counterparts and just in general the company culture prefers Asians. High turn over mainly at the RBUs but also in HQ. HQ believes they understand all markets worldwide instead of trusting local experts. This results in, for example, money spent on marketing materials and events that offer no return. Negligible marketing funds. Even for business travel they will often arrange it to be as short and cheap as possible. Of course, top management is exempt from this.

Explore other reviews about Advantech

5.0
Oct 4, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

excellent place to work here

Cons

There a no cons to working here

3.0
Jun 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people. Generous with company events and lunches. The industry is doing well with the AI/ robotics boom.

Cons

Pay sits well below industry standard. PTO is mandatory on holidays. Strong emphasis on tenure, with 401k vesting taking three years.

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