A Mixed Bag of Great and Stupid - Principal ___ Jacobs Employee Review

3.0
Oct 24, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent salaries. Let people work on their own (trust) with minimal oversight. Nice office spaces. Generally great colleagues who are fun to be around and excellent at their jobs.

Cons

Senior office managers don't understand what the have.. the skills available within their staff. This translates to not always using the right people for the job and don't know how to put a team together to market services. Easily duped into rewarding mediocrity. Give nice raises and 6 weeks later layoffs... DUH! Idiotic safety (zero tolerance) requirements (this needs an example). They show a safety video in which a guy coming down a set of stairs is not using the handrail. He is stopped by a woman going up the stairs, who is holding onto the handrail, who procedes to chastise him for not being safe enough. OK.... so the company is concerned that you might fall, but they have no problem with you contracting some disease and dying from touching a public handrail. Policies that don't fit every situation but can't possibly allow an exception. When the company I was with was first 'acquired' by Jacobs, a senior existing Jacobs employee told their new staff in one office that "the sooner you buy into this the better off you will be." This was correctly interpreted to mean 'This is the way it will be no matter whether you like it or not because we are Jacobs and this is what we do, and if you don't comply with it immediately blah, blah, blah...'

Explore other reviews about Jacobs

5.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company, great culture, love it here

Cons

None to share, it’s great

3.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent culture, individual contributors are fine, management is lacking

Cons

The company operates like many smaller companies depending on which business market you are in so your experience will vary. For some, it's the best company, others will say it's the worst; it just depends on your region/group even at the local level. Water/wastewater is a good market in most offices, transportation is hit an miss depending on location.

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