High Stress Load vs Pay - Production Engineer Dow Employee Review

4.0
Aug 2, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Dow has a relatively good culture of people which is one of the best parts of working there. It is almost guaranteed that you will work on very challenging and meaningful projects/endeavors during your time. They have a 9/80 schedule for most employees except for shift operations which is nice. They also have good 401K matching and an employee stock purchasing program if you choose to participate. Dow is also relatively good at letting you choose your career path compared to some other big oil/gas/chemical companies out there. You are usually not stuck in the pipeline of the job you're currently in if you don't want to be and work hard.

Cons

Dow pays a good bit less than some of the competitors, yet works you harder. I have friends at all competitive companies and they all make more than me with the same or less years of experience. They also have less responsibilities in similar comparison roles to mine. I find that I am working many more hours and have a lot more responsibility than my peers at other companies yet I am not compensated for it. This is a challenge as I find i don't get to utilize my 9/80 schedule like I would like to as I'm often working. Production engineering is very busy and truly is a firefighting job. If you like that, then you may like a production engineer role. Fight for a higher salary if you can, because dow will work every hour out of you. There is no overtime for salary, except in certain situations where they give you a very small percent of your salary for no matter how many hours you work over 65 in a week. Its disheartening as Dow gets my time and efforts for free a lot of the time.

Explore other reviews about Dow

5.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture and the technical expertise within the company provide for a working environment where you don't work in silo and everyone is willing to help support you

Cons

Administrative systems can be burdensome to overcome.

2.0
Mar 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Safety culture, flexibility (although less and less over time). Good health insurance and 401k match

Cons

Dow’s recent years illustrate the challenges of trying to simultaneously satisfy Wall Street’s demands for strong financial performance and aggressive DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) priorities. The company has heavily emphasized inclusion initiatives, including its openly gay CEO publicly sharing that coming out was one of the best days of his life in an internal communication, along with a notable increase in women appointed to senior leadership roles. Hiring practices reportedly require diverse candidate slates—including female candidates—and diverse interview panels before filling positions. These efforts, while well-intentioned, appear to have contributed to a series of questionable strategic decisions. Employees have borne the brunt through repeated rounds of layoffs (including significant cuts announced in recent years), minimal merit increases often in the 2-3% range, stalled promotions, and little turnover at the top levels of leadership. Senior executives seem insulated from the consequences, potentially overlooking how these factors—including their own leadership—may be central to the company’s ongoing struggles.

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