A good company gone bad - Engineer Northern Power Systems Employee Review

Northern is a great place to work if you want to learn the nuts and bolts of the Wind Turbine Industry. Several upper level employees have decades of experience and are savants in their respective disciplines. New cross functional teams mean that people from different departments can work together and gain an understanding of the entire business.

Retention. A combination of intermittent production and sales demands, and quite frankly marginal salary and benefits has thinned the team substantially, and people are pushed into roles they aren't necessarily prepared for. Seasonal work forces require constant re-training and talented folks who know their value can command a better wage elsewhere.

Relative to other places to work in Vermont, Northern Power is great. It's probably the best employer in Central Vermont. Good benefits, good pay, friendly people, lots of stuff going on. A really interesting place to work. And it feels good working in alternative energy.

Wind isn't doing great as an industry. Money is tight and management is sometimes penny wise but pound foolish. Management doesn't necessarily have the technical acumen to really understand what's going on, which is unfortunate because the products are so high-tech and cutting-edge. Office politics can be an issue. Promotions can be based on seniority more than merit.