3M, also known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is a company that deals in a lot of different industries.
Some of the industries that 3M specializes in include automotive, commercial solutions, consumer markets, design and construction, electronics, energy, government, healthcare, manufacturing, safety, and transportation.
One of the most well-known products of 3M is tape and adhesive.
3M has almost a hundred thousand employees, and those employees have a lot to say.
Below are some of the pros and cons that employees have about working for 3M.
Table of Contents
Pros of Working for 3M
Here are some of the pros of working for 3M.
1. The benefits are good
3M offers a variety of benefits for its employees.
These benefits include accident insurance, pet insurance, critical illness, group auto insurance, group home insurance, identity theft protection, legal services, and paid time off.
Good benefits boost employee morale, which increases the productivity and quality of their work.
Many employees feel as if they matter to the company, and their health is valued.
Many employees appreciate the good benefits and paid time off that the company offers them.
2. The people are great and supportive
There is nothing better than working with good supportive people daily.
Working with nice people boosts positivity in the workplace, which boosts productivity.
When people are happy, they perform better and are more willing to give their best work.
This benefits both the employees and the company as a whole.
Many employees agree that working with good people brings a sense of warmth, peace, and acceptance in the workplace.
3. The pay is good
Many employees report that 3M pays them a decent wage.
For the number of hours worked, they feel that they are compensated fairly.
A company shows its appreciation for its employees in two ways:
the benefits they offer and what they pay their employees.
Although the vast majority of employees have said that they are paid well, a few employees say that the pay isn’t very good.
This might be location specific and depends on the economy in different areas.
4. Good work/life balance
With any job, it is important to have a balance between your work and the rest of your life commitments.
Sometimes, some jobs expect their employees to spend most of their time at work, leaving employees with little time to tend to the other parts of their lives.
Fortunately, 3M values its employees enough to allow for a good work/life balance to take care of their other commitments.
5. Opportunities to grow in the company
3M gives employees a variety of opportunities to grow in the company and their careers.
You have opportunities to move up the ladder, but there are rules and guidelines employees have to follow to move up.
Unfortunately, employees are only able to move one spot at a time with only one promotion per year.
With the opportunity to grow in your career at 3M comes opportunities to earn a bigger salary.
A bigger salary means that you have more wiggle room to pay your bills and use the money for other things.
6. More work is available during the busy season
When it is the busy season, there are more opportunities to get more hours with overtime and double time.
This means more opportunities to make more money.
Employees who need the money benefit from these work opportunities and extra hours.
If employees can handle the extra work hours, they can take the overtime and double time that is available.
Unfortunately, these options are only available during the busier seasons.
7. Ability to work from home
The ability to work from home is dependent on the position that you have at 3M.
Some positions have the option of working in-office, remotely, or a hybrid of the two.
Unfortunately, remote work is only available for certain positions within the company.
The employees who have the option can have more flexibility in their positions, making the work/life balance more manageable.
With that said, if you do not have a position with the option of working remotely, you could change to a position that does if your supervisor and management allow for that.
Cons of Working for 3M
We mentioned some of the pros that employees have had while working for 3M above.
Now we are going to talk about some of the cons that employees have had when working for 3M.
1. A large number of layoffs
Unfortunately, 3M has fallen on some rough times.
Because of this, many employees are getting laid off.
With the large number of layoffs occurring, many employees are afraid that they will be next.
Unfortunately, this causes a lot of unneeded stress due for the employees at 3M.
No one wants to go to work every day with the stress that they might lose their job at any moment.
This puts employees on edge and can affect their performance and productivity as well as their overall health.
All of this leads to bad results for the company overall.
2. Overtime is sometimes mandatory
Some employees have said that while overtime is nice at times, they are sometimes forced to take overtime.
It doesn’t matter to management whether or not employees have other places to be, such as appointments or family matters to attend to.
Management will force them to take overtime or risk getting into trouble.
It isn’t enough that overtime is forced.
Oftentimes, employees get the notice at the very last minute when they are getting ready to clock out.
3. Training is not as good as it could be
Training is an important part of any job, and that goes with 3M as well.
Unfortunately, some companies miss the mark when it comes to training.
3M is one of those companies according to what employees have reported.
Many employees are left confused about how to do some things and run equipment due to the lack of training on 3M’s part.
Proper training is important and beneficial for both the employee and the company as a whole.
Without the proper training, employees could make serious mistakes, resulting in a loss of revenue, or worse, they could get injured.
If an employee gets injured on the job due to a lack of proper training, 3M would be considered liable for those injuries.
4. High turnover rate
A high turnover is when there is a high rate of employees leaving the company.
There are usually reasons for employees leaving, such as low pay, bad management, bad coworkers, family issues, etc.
When a company has a high turnover rate, they have to use more resources to keep hiring and training new employees.
The company loses money and has to cut costs somewhere to compensate.
Unfortunately, the first place to cut costs usually includes the wages of the employees.
This keeps feeding into the high turnover rate cycle, rather than finding ways to fix the problem.
5. Lack of accountability in management
Management is responsible for filing reports to HR.
Unfortunately, they leave important details out to make them seem like the good guys in the situation.
Employees have reported that HR usually sides with management rather than checking out the full story.
Unfortunately, the employee is the one to get in trouble for an incident and management walks away without any accountability for their mistakes or actions.
6. Lots of changes have been occurring too quickly
3M has been going through lots of changes over the past few years.
Sometimes some of those changes that have occurred affect some of the things already in place.
This can get very confusing for employees to keep up with the changes and know what they are supposed to do.
Once they get through one change, there is usually another change happening.
Some changes are good, but if you change things too much too fast, it can leave everyone feeling confused and frustrated.
7. Lack of communication
Along with the continuous changes that 3M has been going through, there has been a large lack of communication throughout the company.
According to employees, management at 3M used to communicate well with the employees, but communication has gone downhill over the past several years.
With the changes and lack of communication, employees are left feeling confused, frustrated, and scared.
Employees are confused because changes are constantly happening, and they don’t know what to expect from one moment to the next.
They are frustrated because once they get used to the changes, new changes take place.
They are scared because they don’t know what direction the company is headed.
14 Pros and Cons of Working for 3M – Summary Table
| Pros of Working for 3M | Cons of Working for 3M |
|---|---|
| 1. The benefits are good | 1. A large number of layoffs |
| 2. The people are great and supportive | 2. Overtime is sometimes mandatory |
| 3. The pay is good | 3. Training is not as good as it could be |
| 4. Good work/life balance | 4. High turnover rate |
| 5. Opportunities to grow in the company | 5. Lack of accountability in management |
| 6. More work is available during the busy season | 6. Lots of changes have been occurring too quickly |
| 7. Ability to work from home | 7. Lack of communication |
Should You Work for 3M?
Whether you should work for 3M or not depends on various factors.
If you don’t mind the overtime and the constant uncertainty, then you should give 3M a try.
With that said, keep some other options open in case things go south and you need to find another job quickly.
With the many changes happening, 3M could either turn for the better or go downhill even more.
If you don’t want to live in fear of being laid off or unexpected changes, then working for 3M might not be for you.
