Unilever reviews

4.0

80% would recommend to a friend

(11,371 total reviews)

Hein Schumacher

65% approve of CEO

64% positive business outlook

Unilever has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 11,371 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Unilever 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

11K reviews
1.0
Jan 19, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A global business with great brands.

Cons

1. Awful Leaders: Senior leadership team are extremely self centered and have there own agenda where countless hours and investment is focused on justifying a failed digital transformation that doesn't put it's employees at the center of any decisions. A lack of trust is evident between senior leadership with colleagues openly mentioning they don't trust one another where team meetings with Directors take you back to school; if you're not loud enough then don't bother attending - You can succeed here but at the expense of someone else's happiness. 2. Toxic work culture: The lack of trust at senior leadership level cascades through the business which creates a lack of trust with teams; no empowerment in getting your job done where managers will often breathe down your neck unnecessarily. Be prepared for your small mistakes and imperfections to be amplified and shared to senior stakeholders than be encouraged and celebrated such as avoid talking at desks. 3. Fixed mindset: Have a new idea to improve existing business processes? Don't bother as this will be disregarded. Expected as the senior leadership team are unable to look outside of there Unilever Bubble as this is the only organisation they have worked for and are not change embracers. 4. Zero Diversity Networks: Disappointed to work for an organisation that does not have diversity and inclusion networks with one person of colour in the leadership team in Leatherhead. 5. Awful Offices: For an organization that claims to be sustainable and Earth Loving, Unilever use disposable plastic cups near kitchen areas where men's toilets do not have Urinals. 6. Poor Communication: Infrequent communication from leadership team on critical business news. 7. No Recognition: Don't expect any recognition for going above and beyond the line of duty as management are too focused on outputs and there own learning and development than caring and nurturing your team and focusing on what there needs are. 8. Microwaves: Dont bring your own packed lunch unless you're willing to wait for up to 50 minutes waiting to use one of three microwaves in the Leatherhead offices which has +1000 employees. 9. Technology: Expect to have your laptop given to you towards the end of your first day as this would not be ready or organized beforehand. The laptop specifications are awful so be expected to join the IT Support Center queue to recover your files after being the 6th person in your team to have the blue screen of death. 10. No Induction: No inductions were provided with key stakeholders or team members; you won't be able to understand how your role contributes to the organisation or understand what perks are available.

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Unilever Response
6y
We are sorry to hear about your experience, Unilever is keen to address your specific concern. We request that you share your feedback with your Line Manager in the first instance, to ensure that appropriate action is taken. We will send this on to the relevant HR teams based at Leatherhead to investigate.
1.0
Dec 7, 2019

Lot's of dead weight

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work life balance. People are nice Summer Fridays Free Ice Cream

Cons

A lot of people here do nothing, leading to others having to pick up the workload. Antiquated systems and quite frankly much of the work itself is a result of processes being flawed and colleagues not being so bright. It's a game of hot potato where teams are trying to push off work to others to the point where the team doing the work makes no sense (no correlation to job description).

5.0
Apr 25, 2019

Purpose driven oganisation

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's vision and values are excellent, I felt proud to work for Unilever and everything in stands for. It is not one of those companies who says one thing to it's consumers but then acts differently internally. The agile working is great, as is the free ice cream (site specific) and staff shop!

Cons

Not the highest salaries in the market - people stay because they love the company, not the package. When you do leave you will find it hard to work for just anyone, because you become used to being treated in a certain way and now have the need to find a company that matches your values

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Unilever Response
7y
Thanks for leaving your review about your time at Unilever. It's great to see that you mention our culture and values as some of your highlights. All the best in your future role!
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