Pros
- Well-known global brand with a long history
- Opportunities to work across regions and cultures
- Exposure to international work and different markets
- Some supportive colleagues, pockets of talented people who try to make the best of a tough setup
Cons
- Ongoing transformation, cost savings focus and retrenchments around the world for 2+ years create uncertainty and change fatigue, negatively impacting morale and productivity.
- Very slow to innovate and missed the digital/smart appliance revolution. Should have invested in IoT/smart capabilities 5-7 years earlier. Continued focusing on high end and premium features when mass market had shifted to value products with smart connectivity during economic downturns. Now too premium for value buyers, and too "old" for tech buyers.
- Fragmented brand portfolio dilutes marketing effectiveness and increases costs.
- Underinvestment in a growth market (APMEA) while defending EU and trying to fix North America.
- Some departments including governance are chronically under-resourced. You’ll be expected to cover the work of multiple people with little to no support. This slows down outcomes, burns people out, and increases risks.
- Culture can be political and cliquish. Some leaders are fair, but others play favourites. Double standards are common, for example certain teams or persons still travelling regularly for non-critical matters during travel lockdown.
- Promotions and recognition are inconsistent. Often tied more to location and colour and who you know, than actual performance. Unqualified people are put in charge of regional/global programs, creating avoidable messes that put the company at risk, but they remain in place.
- Very little real career progression unless you’re in HQ or Europe, and you're a white European, particularly Swedish. Diversity is often talked about but not reflected in practice. Senior roles at the Group level overwhelmingly go to white Europeans especially Swedish.