More politics than business, struggling portfolio, and bad people management - Anonymous employee Hitachi Energy Employee Review

2.0
13 Aug 2020
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company is a JV of ABB and Hitachi created on July 1st, 2020, employing about 40k people worldwide. ABB got rid of its Power Grids business, once a very successful one, nowadays struggling with margins and vastly unable to cope with the competition especially in developing markets. Maybe Hitachi will bring some "fresh breeze" into the ABB Power Grids culture, which is their only hope. It is a very international company with great history and maybe with Hitachi's help it can improve its situation.

Cons

Unfortunately in the past few years I've seen the culture become worse and worse. Probably because of many years of pressure from the previous ABB CEO and the investors, the Power Grids management has become micro-managing and created a culture of fear of change, over-reporting, machiavellianism, and "managing up over everything else". I saw many humble, talented and hard-working people leave, and several less talented but politically savvy "brown-noses" get ahead in my function (sales and marketing), but also in others (finance, HR, general management...). Talent management is a joke, probably because HR (with a few exceptions) is supportive of the culture mentioned above, rather than trying to change it for the better into a more positive, trustful and meritocratic culture. And, since D&I is such an important topic these days, Power Grids is still very man-dominated. Luckily for me as a man I didn't experience this kind of discrimination, but many female colleagues could clearly feel a glass ceiling, and the "diversity initiatives" are only window-dressing. Not an environment I wanted to stay in.

Explore other reviews about Hitachi Energy

5.0
5 Jul 2026
Anonymous intern
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Employees are willing to help and answer questions. Lots of opportunity for growth and good jobs security

Cons

Not the most competitive pay, but could be worse.

5.0
1 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The internship has been a genuinely good mix of research, engineering, and practical software work. I have been giving meaningful technical problems instead of busy work, with enough freedom to explore solutions while still having support from experienced engineers. The team culture is collaborative, thoughtful, and very open to questions. I have learned a lot about power systems, simulation software, high-performance computing, and how research ideas turn into tools that actually support engineering work

Cons

Like many large organizations, some processes can move slowly, especially around software access, approvals, and tooling. It can take time to get the full development environment set up, and working across different systems. That said, most of the issues are structural rather than team-related

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All