Rewarding place to work, Family Friendly, - Research Engineer 3M Employee Review

5.0
May 5, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible hours are accepted for most non-production positions. I am trusted to do my work and 'put in the hours" (45+) on average. No body is looking over your shoulder to make sure and this leads to an environment where people feel appreciated and willing to go the extra mile when needed. People of all types work here and I have not seen nor heard of any of the types of racial/other discrimination that a few other reviewers talked about. My guess is that if they are not advancing, they either have a poisonous attitude or are not performing as well as they think they are. One of my favorite parts of working in the technical community here is the copious amounts of learning opportunities, whether it be a Tech Forum class, a cold call to any researcher no matter how senior, or general networking. For one who likes to learn and build/contribute on others' knowledge, there is no better place to work than 3M that I know of.

Cons

If you think that just showing up is 80% of the work, this is not the place for you. Some people may slide by, but don't know how they live with themselves. Bureaucratic red tape is a fact of life in a large entity like 3M. Not fun, but one learns to work effectively within that framework.

Explore other reviews about 3M

5.0
May 15, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good pay and coworkers were friendly

Cons

Rotating shifts were not for me

3.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Company investing in new products and higher growth markets

Cons

Over the past five years, there has been a significant decline in employee loyalty and incentive programs. Equity compensation, such as stock options and RSUs, was previously accessible to mid-level managers but is now strictly reserved for directors and above, reducing long-term incentives for a large portion of the workforce. Additionally, an increase in micromanagement and administrative red tape—particularly regarding strict scrutiny on all spending—has hindered productivity. The frequent practice of cutting budgets to meet short-term quarterly Operating Income (OI) targets is ultimately compromising our long-term revenue growth.

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