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International Paper

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Fairer than most companies their size. Most ethical in their class. - Buyer International Paper Employee Review

4.0
24 Jan 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of upward mobility for the talented and politically savvy. Overall an ethical company. Salaried professionals tend to be well-paid - most other industries and especially smaller companies cannot compete with the compensation. If you are a conscientious type (look that up in the Big 5 personality traits), then you'll love and do well at this company and you'll be rewarded with promotions every 2-3 years. Conscientious types tend to be less creative and more industrious in their work habits. This company also takes safety very seriously at the corporate and mill-leadership levels.

Cons

As with any large corporation, there is entirely too much red tape. This comes with having 50K+ employees so this isn't a personal strike against IP as company but its just a common characteristic found in companies of this magnitude. The company has international agendas that it panders to, namely with the UN, WEF, etc. so that may or may not be a problem for some. In many settings, there is pressure to conform and a fear of speaking up and telling the truth the way you see it, especially if it goes against the prevailing narrative. Lastly, more about the creativity piece - This company is very mature commodities-based company and therefore has less need for someone to re-invent the wheel for them. Creativity is difficult to express in such rigid, mature industrial processes such as making paper for the largest paper company in the world. If having a creative role is your cup of tea, consider looking for a company that is still young in their business life cycle and who has a demand for innovation on a much shorter time frame. Those industries will be more appreciative of creative types (openness to experience). Again, go look up what a creative person is like in the Big 5 personality traits and go listen to Jordan Peterson on the subject of corporations and openness vs. conscientiousness. That will give you a better idea of what you're up against with this industry. If you are a creative type and you choose to work at IP, my recommendation is to have a creative hobby on the side that you take very seriously so that you can satisfy your innate desire to create something new. It is my belief that the company will fail to offer adequate opportunities to be creative - this ties back in to the company being too big for its own good and has too much red tape - such size and red tape limits how much creativity the company can entertain and the margins are too low and the stakes are too high for them to be taking large risks with paradigm-shifting ideas. Consider yourself adequately warned!

Explore other reviews about International Paper

5.0
11 Dec 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great co-workers/environment Easy work for outstanding pay Great schedule that is set for a year and allows 1 full week off every 4 weeks.

Cons

Can be extremely dirty. A bad day with plugs can be very physically demanding.

1.0
10 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits were fairly decent when I was there. PTO was pretty generous. Pay was decent enough, along with a Bonus at certain pay levels. Many of the people I worked with there were outstanding - although, most of them are gone now. They did retain a few subject matter experts, most have left or leaving - but I guess it's a possible pro they might not cut your entire department..

Cons

The Cons are the new 'wonder boy' CEO. This puts most of the 'Pros' here on shaky ground. The new CEO - Andy Silvernail, is a ruthless cost cutter. I would expect as/if the stock continues to drop - other benefits, people, or pay will be gouged - like they did the entire IT department. Andy was making big stock promises when he started up, but it was clear from the start, his only concern was the stock price. I still talk to some people they did retain or forced over ("rebadged" - such a terribly soulless word for it) to the new MSP. Every single one of them is at their wit's end. They are hemorrhaging what's left of IT in the company and all of the deep knowledge with them. It WAS a great place to work - now they report working 60+ hours a week trying to make up for the incompetence of the new MSP. At least one of them told me that he has dealt with more downtime and high priority problems in the last couple months, than the previous 15 years there. So if you are considering a job in IT at this company - in any capacity, expect to work long hours with no real path or possibility for advancement.

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