Productive and Respectful Work Environment, Weak Pay and Benefits - Production Support Engineer 3M Employee Review

4.0
17 Mar 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I think the biggest boon for my division is the hiring practices -- everyone on the team is communicative and competent, but also respects your time and are not invasive. I have never had a manager interrogate me about why I was late to a shift or what kind of appointment I'm going to. As long as you accomplish your work, nobody will demand more than that of your time. Other employees are eager to encourage other team members to take time off or leave when it's their time to leave. Managers have been very flexible as I have chosen to change my daily schedule. Functionally unlimited PTO. This is an unspoken situation with the contractor. Low workload. My skillset is respected in my workplace but my work takes less than half a day to accomplish. I was kept on after covid hit -- I was hired just before the pandemic and would've have been the LIFO layoff, however 3M was conservative and our division was lucrative so layoffs were unnecessary. I am very grateful for job stability during this time. 3M has decided to be a "flexible" working environment. Specifically, employees can now choose to be entirely remote, hybrid, or exclusively in office. "Flat" management structure. Project level teams determine leadership naturally. Most employees are very independent. Little hierarchy between employees and management. 3M is a well respected employer and looks great on a resume.

Cons

Contract work -- I am not technically employed by 3M and don't get 3M benefits. Almost half of my division functions this way. This is a sector wide problem, not exclusive to 3M at all. I haven't had a pay increase in 2.5 years. My pay is low to midrange for a starting wage in my position with my skillset, and has not increased. This position in my division functions as a junior software dev position, but I have been given no information about what I need to do to be promoted after half a dozen quarterly reviews, all of which described my work as immaculate. My daily work does little to advance my skillset towards this end. I have made independent efforts to take on extra work to prove that I'm ready to be promoted, but this has not been acknowledged as a meaningful move forward. These cons are very high impact -- I would rate the employer as a 3.5 given the choice, but decided to err to 3 stars because of the gravity of these cons.

Explore other reviews about 3M

5.0
15 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good company to work for.

Cons

Large corp culture for employees

4.0
28 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Compensation is genuinely competitive — one of the stronger-paying manufacturing roles you'll find in the area. Benefits package is comprehensive and well above average. The retirement account and stock options are a real standout, especially for a machine operator role; 3M clearly invests in its employees long-term. Day-to-day, the people on the floor make the job. Coworkers were hardworking and easy to get along with, which goes a long way in a production environment. Upper management is what you'd expect from a large corporation — a bit removed from the floor — but that's pretty standard for a company of that size, Not a deal breaker.

Cons

The shift schedule is rough. Rotating between 12-hour days and nights on a swing schedule sounds manageable on paper, but constantly flipping your sleep schedule takes a real toll over time. Work-life balance is difficult to maintain when your "days off" are often spent just recovering and readjusting, and you can easily miss out on normal life things — social plans, family time, errands — simply because your schedule doesn't line up with the rest of the world that week. Upper management can also be a friction point. When people who haven't touched the machines in years (or ever) come to the floor with strong opinions about how things should run, it creates frustration. The folks actually operating the equipment day in and day out develop real expertise, and that doesn't always feel acknowledged from above.

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