Extremely poor corporate structure and too many reorgs - Small Department Not Saying Danone Employee Review

2.0
Sep 3, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Company branding Benefits Salary (to some extent)

Cons

One of the worst corporate structures for a company of this size and considering Singapore as one of the Global HQs. Very very heavy on the middle manager roles whereby you have managers in many teams who are only managing 1 or 2 employees. This often leads to unhealthily high levels of micro-managing and oftentimes you see managers doing the work of the employees to "justify" their worth, with the lines between managers and employees blurred. Managers often have to take credit for their team's work (for self preservation) and there is also a lot of infighting amongst managers. This is also observed in other HQs around the world as well. Due to the sheer number of middle manager roles, Danone also creates a lot of dotted reporting lines such that employees have multiple managers (to probably justify their existence), which leads to complexity an extremely dysfunctional corporate structure. Decisions also take a long time to close out. Due to the need to run up the many many chains of command and the matrix reporting structure does not help. HQ in EU also wants too much control so there is no proper governance and structure in Asia. R&D team in EU for example are in charge of the new products that are launched in Asia??

Explore other reviews about Danone

5.0
Apr 30, 2026
Anonymous intern
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people, highly structured, unique learning opportunities

Cons

Team was fully remote so sometimes a bit difficult to communicate with everyone

1.0
Feb 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Work-life balance exists and is generally respected. Bonuses can be good, depending on the year and leadership priorities. Strong, reputable brands that look impressive on a résumé. "Some" genuinely great people who work hard despite the environment.

Cons

No meritocracy whatsoever. Promotions and career growth are driven by favoritism, internal alliances, and visibility politics rather than performance or results. Advancement often feels like a popularity contest. “Core values” are largely performative. They are referenced often but ignored when inconvenient, especially at leadership levels. Questionable long-term strategy. Direction changes frequently, priorities shift without explanation, and long-term planning feels weak or reactive. Extremely bureaucratic. Simple decisions require excessive approvals, slowing execution and stifling innovation. Politics over performance. Success depends more on who you align with than what you deliver. If you're not "one of them" or if they don't want to continue paying you your value, they'll find ways to get rid of you. So choose wisely and research the role and team.

4
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