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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

Is this your company?

Every job has its Ups and Downs - Anonymous employee Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Employee Review

2.0
Jan 13, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

SEL is the area's largest private employer. They are technologically advanced for the Palouse. If you want to work in a corporate setting this is the place to be. There are always many positions open and a fair amount of opportunity for growth (for the right person). The medical benefits are by far the best available in Moscow/Pullman. I have learned an outstanding amount at SEL. You are always so busy and it is impossible not to learn! There are also very bright people to work with and some great friends to be made.

Cons

The major things that comes to mind when thinking of cons are all the lies and Human Resources whose whole purpose is to further lies instead of advocate for employees. SEL puts extreme focus on its values and running it business like "your mother would want you to." But the values are only applicable in certain settings and are more likely to be used against you than to be followed. And if the way people are treated is how "your mother would want you to," I would rather not meet your mother. Human Resources role should at least partially be one of advocating for employees. SEL HR is about making senior management happy regardless of the impact to the employee. Decisions are made on whim and with a "say yes now, think about if makes sense later, leave your employees to clean up the mess" mentality. I would avoid HR.

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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