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
1.0
Jan 6, 2017

Look out for yourself

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It used to mean so much going to work each day

Cons

Management incompetent and looks out for themselves. Treats employees harshly with layoffs. Arrogance and poor business development has ruined the EPC side of the company while ignorance and stupidity had forced the company to put all is hope in series 6 modules. MOD+ was a decent idea to stay off with but you gave no backend support whatsoever. My customer support group has a couple dozen people running modules..2 doing EPC warranty...and two doing module performance.. Guess where management cut from....not one person in modules.. This company has limited hope coming in 2018....good luck with that.

2.0
Nov 12, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay and benefits. Ability to work remotely. Schedule flexibility. Ability to determine which technology was utilized for different projects relative to software development.

Cons

Compensation has steadily degraded over the years for those below the director level while the executives continue to line their pockets on the backs of those actually manufacturing the product which is typical corporate America but that doesn't make it any more tolerable. First Solar used to have an aggressive long-term incentive program and a great bonus. The long-term incentive program is gone and the bonuses have been cut in half. Again, the incentives for the executives are fantastic. Just take a look at insider trading activity and you can see all the stock options they receive. You have no control over your working environment. If the lights are too bright...too bad. First Solar likes to try to push a myriad of initiatives forward at any given time with unrealistic deadlines as well as insufficient resources in order to complete the work. First Solar also likes to constantly shift gears ensuring that few things are actually completed properly. There are many people that just don't provide any value yet they continue to collect a paycheck. First Solar used to be great. Now, it's just more of the same. There isn't anything special about the company anymore.

1.0
Mar 23, 2013

A Company run firmly on favoritism and not promoting from within.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They do have good benefits.

Cons

If you are not in the social clicks in the company your opportunities are squashed. When hiring for new positions they do not look at the experience of the there present employees as a positive asset for the new position. They weigh both the external applicants evenly with the internal applicants. After 1 to 2 years of employment at First Solar they no longer allow you opportunities to grow.

Viewing 25 - 27 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.