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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

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Stable position at a stable company but at below average pay rates. - Engineer Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Employee Review

2.0
May 24, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Stable company: Leader in electrical power systems technology. -Lot of good, loyal, hardworking folks work here. -Good for power engineers starting their careers. -Solid customer focus.

Cons

-Salary: Sub-standard pay rates when compared to other companies. At the annual performance review, if you meet expectations you get a 1% pay hike! If you exceed expectations you get a 2% increase! This does not even cover the year over year inflation rate. I have seen so many of my co-workers leave to other companies because of this reason. -Employee Development: There is a lack of employee development in the company. Primarily because the company is located close to two colleges, there are plenty of new grads who can be hired for dirt cheap and every two years there is a turnover. -HR: Does a brilliant job of brainwashing people into the "company culture". They do a good job of maintaining the company's image in the employee's mind and thereby in the community. -Travel: Only power systems engineers or managers get to travel outside the company to meet customers or attend conferences. -Small town: Small college town living. Suitable for families but there is not much to do if you are single.

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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