Boring, but safe, and secure - not for the ambitious - Anonymous employee Boeing Employee Review

3.0
Jan 12, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

+ Work Life Balance: Extremely good work life balance. You can rely on working the minimum 40 hours a week. If you go over, you can flex it, and no one will think any less of you - unless there's an impacting customer issue, of course. For younger hires, going to school while working at Boeing is pretty easy if you don't have a family. Boeing has a decent education reimbursement program to facilitate this. + Good Total Compensation: Many people complain that they aren't compensated well at Boeing. It's true they do not pay top salary for most job positions, however, they make it up in a comprehensive benefits package as well as a lot of off-time in the form of holiday, sick leave, AND vacation time. Salaried even gets over time. Also, union positions are in no position to complain about their salary. + A Position for Everyone: Boeing hires everything from aerospace engineers and accountants to firefighters and weathermen. If you want to do a career change, you don't have to leave the company to do it. + Job Security: You have to actively try to get fired. It's really obscene. I never saw someone get fired for poor job performance. You can only get fired if you do something really blatant like steal from the company, start a fight, bring a gun, intimidate someone - basically anything that can cause legal trouble for Boeing if they don't fire you. Boeing makes a lot of headlines when they do layoffs, but quite frankly, I didn't know anyone who got laid off who didn't see it coming. Boeing keeps programs going well after the point that they should have been killed off.

Cons

+ Slow Pace: Boeing, along with the rest of the airline industry, is obsessed with safety. As a result, the pace of innovation is very slow. Few people in the company get to really push boundaries and make a dent in the universe. Those that do have to stay with the company for years - it takes a long time to make/change an aircraft design. + Lazy Culture: Because of the obscenely high amount of job security, good compensation, and slow pace, the large portion of the population is complacent. Those who want to change the world and make a difference leave, leaving a bunch of B level performers. New "As" either turn back around and leave, or they themselves become complacent, having no reason to try hard. Even the best aerospace engineers typically leave and come back as a consultant, getting paid even more than what Boeing already offers the engineering union. + Ageism: There's a huge age gap in the company in all areas. This often manifests itself in impatient "kids" wanting to do something new, but are actively discouraged or ignored by the "old timers" who think they know the right way to do everything. Promotions are only partially merit based, and much of it requires a certain number of years at a certain level as per the "process". There are many 1st level managers who go their position solely because they've been at the company for decades with no excuse to let them go. Overall, I recommend Boeing for those who prioritize a stable job and good work life balance over anything else - it's a good family job. Also, engineers (those that can get a SPEEA union job) should go into Boeing. No brainer. The compensation and job security are stupidly high for SPEEA. For those ambitious with their career, look elsewhere, because Boeing will make you dumb and lazy if you're not careful.

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Pros

The benefits and team are great

Cons

The pay could be better

3.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Easy going, nice benefits, free further education (masters/PhD). Great for an engineer starting out who needs to dip their feet in the pool of engineering for a few years and to get a great 401(k) match at the start of your career (compounding growth). Great for late stage career due to the benefits and solid enough pay in a low cost of living area

Cons

pay-scale lagging, no emphasis on learning new things, no punishment for people who are bad at their job. After working for 4 years, I feel like I should have jumped ship after 2. I haven't been given meaningful work that really challenges me in a while. Now I feel pigeonholed into staying because I have enough years of experience that I really should be considered senior, but I haven't been given work that reflects what I senior engineer should be capable of. Now I'm trying to jump ship before it's really too late. If I stay here another 2 years I think I will be genuinely unemployable and will have to stay at this company forever.

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