Ecolab reviews

The company is sales focused and driven, manufacturing facilities and infrastructure are an afterthought. There is a huge disconnect between "the ivory tower" in St. Paul and the rest of the company. Compensation packages for professionals are typically below average. There is absolutely no HR function. There is a severe lack of organization, structure and control of the process. The manufacturing facilities are antiquated, filthy and run like Chinese sweat-shops. Morale is generally piss-poor, across multiple sites and several levels of responsibility. There are far too few people to accomplish the workload that exists, and new tasks and procedures keep cropping up with no additional resources given to complete them. Senior management is full of micro-managers that will not allow people to grow professionally.

There's a lot of work to be done, sometimes almost too much for one person. The company is cautious to not hire too mny employees which is great because they then don't find themselves issuing layoffs in a recession, but it's also difficult to keep up with the amount t of work to be done when there sometimes just aren't enough people to step up to the plate. In some arenas of the company, you will work on Ecolab holidays (day after Christmas, day after Thanksgiving), though you will still get holiday pay and overtime. Another honest downside is that while we make and sell necessary products, they're not cheap. So in a recession, a lot of our customers feel the pinch--especially the restaurateurs. In some sectors of the company, I'll admit it can feel hard to fit it. So if you're a super social person, you'll probably be outgoing enough to avoid any loneliness in the office. But if you're shy you may struggle more to find your niche.