It takes more than a good salary to retain employees - Field Engineer SLB Employee Review

3.0
Oct 11, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Schlumberger offers an extremely competitive salary compared to its competitors (e.g. FracTec, BJ, Halliburton). There are also tons of perks to working as an engineer in this company- housing assistance/stipend/payment, excellent benefits, etc. There is also plenty of opportunity to move around after a few years.

Cons

The work life "balance" is almost non-existent, or rather- completely one-sided. It's the oil and gas industry, a very fast-paced environment that requires a certain level of immediacy from an oilfield services company such as Schlumberger. Working 100 hrs a week wouldn't be so bad if there was more respect and recognition of the adaptability required in doing so form management. Also, there is no stability in terms of location- many field engineers move around once every couple of years as needed. It is for these reasons that retention is so poor.

Explore other reviews about SLB

5.0
Feb 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Smart people, good benefits, and world wide opportunity

Cons

Salary market compensation could be slow

1.0
Jun 17, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good people at the local level. The work is engaging and challenging.

Cons

Too many to count. Career advancements are extremely limited. Pay raises are minimal and don't get close to keeping up with inflation even for top performers. At the corporate level they are using acquisitions to hide massive layoffs. They return billions in profit to investors consistently, but there is still a constant threat of layoffs and multiyear freezes on pay raises even with inflation and solid corporate profit.

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