Good place to work and grow if you live near an office but lopsided management priorities - Product Owner Caterpillar Employee Review

3.0
Jun 6, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I've been treated well by this company over the years. The global pandemic brought challenges and for many, the opportunity to work remotely full time which enormously improved quality of life and work-life balance for those who took advantage of it. Goal setting is a pretty collaborative process with your management chain so it allows most people to meet and exceed their goals. While some stakeholders can be challenging, that's inevitable in any industry and even if it takes a long time for your leadership team to realize that stakeholder expectations need to be tempered, they will eventually get to that point. The teams I work with are awesome, The projects can be exciting and the work can be fulfilling if you can get the trust of your leadership team.

Cons

Our recently departed CEO strategically enacted a 5-day in-office work policy a week or so before departure in the hopes of ameliorating a broad-based backlash against the new CEO. While I'm not familiar with anyone casting blame on the new CEO, the 5-day in-office standard is regressive, unnecessary, inefficient, has broad disapproval and is a poorly veiled effort to reduce headcount in general in an already somewhat disgruntled team ahead of what many perceive as an inevitable "streamlining" of personnel with the advent of AI. This new 5-day in-office policy is being used broadly by lower-level management as ammunition to deny promotions, limit career growth opportunities and increase control over individual contributors in general at a time when record year on record year should be reflected in the prosperity of everyone at this company when it simply has not. The last several years of investment in stock buybacks and dividend increases during record years at the expense of headcount and individual contributor compensation has resulted in reduced morale across various groups within CAT as a parent company. It's pretty clear to those in the know that this has shifted the compensation significantly in favor of senior and executive leaders at the expense of front-line employees at a time when execution is seeing plummeting feedback from customers and dealers.

Explore other reviews about Caterpillar

5.0
Jun 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits Great WLB Great pay

Cons

Low mobility to move up within company

2.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good health insurance and benefits, good yearly bonuses. The pay is good.

Cons

They are enforcing returning to office by any means necessary. They have lost many high-quality producers who have refused to relocate or refuse to come in. Here's the kicker - they are requiring in-person attendance at the Chicago office and there aren't even enough desks for everyone. It would be a literal fire hazard if we all came into the Chicago office at the same time, M-F, during business hours. No one knows how or if they are going to actually enforce this. Cost of gas is insane, Joe doesn't care about the workers. Or the work for that matter. It's obvious this is a soft layoff, they have made a bunch of people quit. Their internal design agency is falling apart, lots of people have quit, not only because of return to office but because of the toxic politics, favoritism, and lack of direction and accountability. Mediocre workers are allowed to keep their jobs ONLY because of their ability to put their bodies in a chair and work in-person. The other relocation option HR gave besides Chicago was Peoria. No one wants to live in Peoria for any reason whatsoever, be for real.

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