Scientific Games Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Scientific Games full-time for less than a year

Pros – overtime offered, benefits, good work environment

Cons – very demanding and long shifts,

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Scientific Games for more than 10 years

Pros – Flextime is good
Salaries are higher than most

Cons – Lack of direction
Stale technology
Lack of work ethic by most
Raises are very week - The only way to get more money is to change jobs or when entering company

Advice to Senior Management – Bring in new talent from outside. Hiring within has thinned out the talent.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Scientific Games

Pros – time off is somewhat flexible
sometimes you're granted an audience with the higher-ups for brief periods around a holiday
once in a while you'll get to learn something new that sparks creativity and the intellectual process (although what you're learning is not cutting edge)

Cons – old technology, poor direction on the technology side of the house. clear to see money wasted on technology toys, gives feeling that some management use company as corporate spending account for unnecessary gadgets

senior management travels a lot, no new revenue to show for endeavour but trade shows, conferences and international travel are the norm at the upper levels

lottery systems side is dying, no new innovations. company seems to follow suite on gtech/intralot. senior management seem to find internet and electronic gaming machines as 'wave of future' not realizing that antiquated methedologies cant keep pace with current development requirements

instant ticket side has waves of work, is only saving grace of org

sub-par raises
almost annual rifts

more senior management, directors, vice presidents and senior vice presidents than a larger company would offer. promotion visibly not based on skill but on who you know or what you've done recently for those above you. very much a building my regime mentality

departments are siloed off and communication is almost non-existant

several initiatives throughout org but failed planning and lack of capital insure that if a project fails a slap on the wrist and a delayed promotion are in order

no real requirement to write-down what you know, very much a knowledge is power mentality that is accepted and not discouraged

Advice to Senior Management – the board/ C need to clean house and get fresh blood in the company
higher expectations for the organization with tighter control of management at the senior level, as well as trimming the excessive and unnecessary leadership fat, would do the company well

investing in staff that are skilled and regularly motivated & rewarded for innovation

make promotions meaningful

be more involved in running the organization and bring the multiple divisions together, why would you have the same positions in several different areas doing a small percentage of work when one person could drive results for the entire org

clear requirements for duties performed would stop a lot of the in-fighting. all projects are surrounded by uppers trying to get their name on the project. i guess they get a kickback if its successful, this does not translate to the actual employee whos working the project.

stop thinking small; you're not in a garage you were a billion dollar company act like it.
stop buying companies - require your people to innovate and you can stop wasting money you dont have

Former Employee – worked at Scientific Games

Pros – The salaries are adequate

The benefit package is ok

Flexible time off when you need it

Location of facility is centrally located

Cons – Preferential Treatment

Non-Diverse Workforce

Hostile Work Environment

Dishonest Performance Reviews

Flat-out Lies by Management

Zero to None Career Advancement Opportunities

No Cultivation of Employees

Low Employee Moral

Advice to Senior Management – You must implement a fair and equitable work environment where employees are evaluated on their performance only and nothing else. Scientific Games has never had an impartial work environment in the past, and will continue to operate this way due to upper management's good old boy mentality. People who deserve fair chances are not given the chances they deserve.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Scientific Games

Pros – Hard working employees
Ok Salary compared to other employers
Great location

Cons – Very, very inexperienced management on VP level
Lack of clear direction or focus
Poor health benefits

Advice to Senior Management – Majority of VPs do not work. They are hardly in the office, do not lead their teams, and do not know what's really going on. Promotions are only made when employees threaten to quit. Employees are not motivated to work. Please give your VPs some management training and hold them accountable before all your talent leaves!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Scientific Games

Pros – Good pay
A few departments have solid leadership
Small company, good if thats your thing

Cons – Poor communication between anyone outside of your team, fair amount of duplicate work.
Poor PTO available to anyone under 5 years of service
Lack of focus, goals are short term and often forgotten
Many departments feel a lack of respect and no appreciaton for their work
Outdated work mentality and culture

Advice to Senior Management – Pick a solid goal and focus on it, dont get side tracked with things that arent relevant to the discussion. Loosen up on the 8-5 in your seat mentality.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Scientific Games

Pros – Small teams. Team members treated well. Cool hardware technology at times. Goal of quality, even if goal isn't always met. Developers treated as authority.

Cons – Warned when I started that they ran a rotating door of employees. I was cut after 3rd layoff in 2 years. Win a state lottery - hire. Lose a state lottery - fire. Shop is packed with politics and in-house backstabbing. Experience soured one coworker so dramatically that he moved out of the country to escape "evil" companies.

Advice to Senior Management – Shoot straight with people and hire contractors. Calm the infighting and politics. Value should represent ability and not who likes you.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Scientific Games

Pros – Interesting Industry. The warehouse is fun to walk through and take guests on tours.
Good people work there. Good benefits, technology is up to date and the lunch hour is near good places to eat. Some of the people have worked there for a long time.

Cons – Long drive unless you live in the area. The chemical smell from the plant is pretty hard to get used to and you think about if that is good to breath in all day. The security is pretty severe, most doors have badge access, so if you forget your badge, it's a nice wait in security to get cleared.

Advice to Senior Management – Bring back the old fashioned parties and let people drink.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Scientific Games

Pros – Good pay for the area I was in. Many OT hours.

Cons – Benefits are not that good

Advice to Senior Management – More communication

Current Employee – been working at Scientific Games

Pros – With over 4,900 employees, and loads of world-wide contracts, there is a lot of opportunity to move around and grow.

Cons – Current regime has lost touch with what made the company a well-respected leader. Being publically traded, the almighty dollar takes the front seat to anything else - period. Having their employees indicted or caught up in lottery scandals doesn't speak well for the current management style. The old regime never had any scandals, but they weren't publically traded either. Management is hard-edged.
Aquistions and mergers, along with more contracts spreads employees thin.
Employees are expected to do what is needed for the company first, regardless of personal consequences or hardships on family.
This is an example of a company that grew by leaps and bounds at the sacrifice of employees.
There is no return from the slippery slope of pleasing the shareholders.

Advice to Senior Management – Get more personal with your customers and your employees. Don't manage via fear tactics.
Become an advocate, not an enemy.