Pros
My tenure at Zebra has been exclusively in New Product Engineering and Development at our Vernon Hills, IL facility. What I admire most about Zebra is that it remains a company where, despite its medium-large company size, an enterprising associate can make his or her mark and receive the individual recognition they deserve. Even our co-op students and interns have visibility up through the VP level! (Prior to joining Zebra, I worked at two very large defense companies and never even saw our divisional heads.) Innovation at every level is strongly encouraged, and given the acceleration in “The Internet of Things”, Zebra is uniquely well-positioned for continued future growth.
Cons
In past years I might have commented that Zebra’s senior executive team tended to be too conservative. (To use a basketball analogy, they didn’t take many three point shots.) The past couple of years, however, there has been a noticeable change in attitude, led by our CEO Anders Gustafsson. The technology areas in which Zebra now plays are growing exponentially, and our senior staff recognizes that we need to take more calculated risks in response to our customer’s rapidly changing needs. The Zebra culture is not for everyone. As is mentioned elsewhere by other Glassdoor reviewers, Zebra maintains a “small company feel” – and I wholeheartedly agree with that. However, my take on “small company feel” is that self-starters who take personal pride and responsibility for their individual contributions and are comfortable (and even enjoy) the ambiguity of challenging work – they will thrive in this culture. People who are easily discouraged in the face of obstacles and require specific, literal, directives of their managers - these associates will not be as successful...
