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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

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Good benefits, bad planning, annoying culture - Anonymous employee Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Employee Review

3.0
Jun 10, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits are really good with cheap insurance and an ESOP program. The pay is alright, but not really competitive with companies doing similar things (even in nearby areas). It's possible to learn a lot of skills that can be applicable for future jobs, especially if you choose to pursue cross training. One of the better places to work in the Pullman area, because it is so remote that there are not many options that offer pay over minimum wage and benefits.

Cons

My department was perpetually in overtime due to planning overbooking. Rather than letting the customers know we were at capacity, they would promise a delivery time that wasn't feasible, put us on 60 hour work weeks, and then the product would STILL be late because they would overbook us so bad. Those customers would be pissed and employees were burnt out. The company touts nine key values as its culture. NINE. No, honey, you got to pick, like, three, because there's no way you are actually gonna achieve nine. So mostly it's all buzzwords, with not a lot to back it up. But employees are supposed to smile about working at the best place ever, even when they are working six tens and Dr. Schweitzer brings political candidates that fit his agenda to mandatory all-company meetings. No thanks.

Explore other reviews about Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Plenty of friendly faces to work with.

Cons

Reluctant to hire certain places sometimes.

4.0
Apr 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Right job for some people. If you buy into the koolaid and are passionate about the power industry this can be an incredible job for you. The benefits are pretty great. I really enjoyed my coworkers, all of them feel human and are earnest. You can live quite cheaply in Pullman. There is an incredible amount of job security. SEL boasts they've never done a layoff. Additionally their ESOP distribution is generous - though it takes 6 years to fully vest. There is a lot of things I really admire about the company and the culture.

Cons

Comp is lower side. A lot of people are hired out of college and have only ever worked at SEL so sometimes I feel like there is a bit of an echo chamber. Small town. I really struggled with the initial allocation of 12 days PTO. 17 after 2 years is much easier. As a SWE, the company feels very catered to their power engineers. Company is very traditional in its values, people wear suits to work. Seems like the timeline for promotion is quite slow for SWE compared to other companies. I see a lot of friction when lower level engineers trying to advocate for changes; though I do think that the conversations with leadership happen in good faith.

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