Solvay reviews

4.1

80% would recommend to a friend

(859 total reviews)
avatar

Philippe KEHREN

93% approve of CEO

53% positive business outlook

Solvay has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 859 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Solvay employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufactura industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

859 reviews
2.0
Feb 23, 2021

"System of control"

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pays OK, Great location, 401k match, Free bagels, cream cheese and some other comfort food (big belly, no worries, you will look wealthy), Free workplace drama so you could save some $ rather watching Netflix, Opportunity to advance your acting skills, Recently extended maternity&paternity leave to 16 weeks (paid) - great opportunity for new parents to look for a new job while they are on leave. Regardless of pros above, you should know that "some adventures are not worth taking". Stay away from Solvay's Technology Solutions business unit.

Cons

You will hear a lot of "Fabulous" things. They take brainwashing too serious, but they use organic. Lost significant brainpower in 2020 with retirements and got rid of unnecessary positions with layoffs (I guess this should be added to pros) . Unfortunately but as expected, slimy weasels rise to the top. Brown nosing is the norm. Only fresh graduates and PhD's, right out of school and not seeing anything else, could call this place a good place to work for. Not because they have a poor judgment, they just have not seen anything else. People are not happy at all but lazy enough to change jobs. Everybody appears miserable at work - ones that were happy either forced to retire or will retire very soon or left already. They will be missed. Constant Reorgs - like crazy! Poor Diversity & Inclusion efforts - underrepresentation of people of color (~5% of Stamford R&D) If you do not contribute to disinformation and partisanship, and If you do not eat your "free bagel" with others and pretend that you enjoy, you will be ostracized. Researchers treated as competition, not partners. Inexplicably incompetent management and borderline business ethics in mining division. Your performance rating is dependent on your relationship with your manager. Your “perceived” performance is more important than your actual performance

2.0
Aug 10, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Solvay is a big name that will make your resume/CV look better for having worked here. Depending on the group you are hired to, you can have a long career here. Safety culture is excellent.

Cons

Certain groups are dead-ends, and anyone aspiring to better opportunities would need to either have a PhD or a fresh Engineering degree from Georgia Tech or similar. The company was better circa 2013-2015, but significantly degraded after that. There is absolutely a nepotism and elitism at play in Solvay, with lateral and upward moves coming far easier for certain demographics. Workloads consistently burn out personnel, certain labs are perpetually understaffed, and promotions are not merit based by and large. From my personal experience, several opportunities were denied to me, and many others I knew, despite having a stellar reputation and more than meeting qualifications. Management in certain groups is critically incompetent and in serious need of replacing. At the corporate level, the CEO and pals constantly “restructure” and “rebrand” the company culture with seemingly empty lists of buzzwords and no real, unifying vision.

Viewing 4 - 6 of 859 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,128 Solvay reviews submitted anonymously by Solvay employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Solvay is right for you.