First Solar reviews

3.7

70% would recommend to a friend

(683 total reviews)
avatar

Mark Widmar

86% approve of CEO

62% positive business outlook

First Solar has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 683 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The First Solar employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

683 reviews
2.0
Jan 15, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. FS technology and the right talent to drive energy efficiency up and cost out of the products. Raffi get's it, he's trusted, he needs more resources, but is ham-strung by HR. 2. The new executive leaders are now finally beginning to understand the business.

Cons

1. Accountability for sales or lack-of-accountability for sales has been FS's company performance anchor. 2. Too many Chief's, not enough Indians. It's easier to hire a VP (at $300k) than support staff (at $40k), therefore senior-level leaders wasting 35% their time doing low-skill, individual contributor-level tasks. 3. It's been two years of death-by-a-thousand cuts and there are too many positions which are "single-strung." In other words, when the employee terms (either by choice or RIF) so does their experience and the learning curve for many positions is 12 - 30 months. (see executive suggestion #1.)

3.0
Jan 10, 2014

Out of touch senior mgmt

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Interesting and challenging work when company was growing

Cons

No direction from VP levels. Revolving doors on management.

2.0
Jan 9, 2014

UNORGANIZED, FRAGMENTED

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay is good, benefits generous

Cons

Company is ran very poorly. Upper Management has no clue of some of the monetary abuses middle management gets away. Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Quote un quote business trips that are in reality personal trips . I saw a lot of this going on and it disgust me how much it was abused. You get far in this company if you like to kiss butt.

Viewing 634 - 636 of 683 Reviews

Glassdoor has 805 First Solar reviews submitted anonymously by First Solar employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if First Solar is right for you.