Good but could be so much better. - Senior Financial Representative Shell Employee Review

4.0
18 Jan 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The pay and benefits are excellent. The engineering staff is great and very innovative. Impression that there is a greater degree of freedom to be creative than in other companies, e.g. Exxon. Exception to creativity is is in general IT, i.e. desktop tools.

Cons

Weak senior leadership. Very bureaucratic. Focused on generating processes and procedures rather than on meaningful action. Slow decision making. Paralysis by analysis. Comments to leadership are in reference to non-US based leaders. The same innovation referenced in best reasons can also be a hindrance when we go overboard to gold plate a project when something simpler may have sufficed. IT and HR are horrible. IT extremely fearful of new ideas and way behind and HR is clueless. IT decisions appear to be based exclusively on cost of maintaing system/software and not on value to end-users. This results in tools being rolled out with features rendered shut down. This reduces the cost of support. But that is only because so many features have been shut down or configuration is so convoluted that the software is practically unusable. So, obviously support costs are down because no one is using the software. Greater offshoring of jobs, especially at the lower levels but also review of moving jobs at the next level. The problem with that model is that if you don't have entry level jobs in the US, what happens to the jobs pipeline? Where will the people for the next level jobs come from?

Explore other reviews about Shell

5.0
3 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good pay, work life balance, and benefits

Cons

Boom and bust cycles with oil price

2.0
30 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are many diverse roles and opportunities within the company, which can make it easier to explore different career paths and avoid feeling stuck or bored.

Cons

Company lacks clear direction and has significant internal disorganization. Employees are often expected to take on multiple roles without appropriate compensation or support. Despite consistently being a high performer, I left feeling undervalued — after covering two roles, there wasn’t even a simple thank you upon departure. To make matters worse, eight months after leaving, they are now claiming I owe over $5,000 in PTO that had previously been considered settled at the time of my exit. Overall, the experience left a very negative impression and highlighted serious internal process issues.

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