Pretty good gig for full-timers looking for a safe job, contractors get a raw deal. - Engineer 3M Employee Review

4.0
31 Aug 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Most people are great. No one on the ground treats contractors any different than 3Mers. Culture varies a lot by group (it's a huge company after all). My group was great, very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Cons

Hopefully you got a job that interests you because there is little to no chance at advancement as a contract employee. Your manager will probably talk to you about a conversion, but their plans will be subject to 4+ managers and executives above them. Every time one of those positions changes, all plans get reevaluated (and very often thrown out the window). Since most management positions change every 2-5 years you are pretty much guaranteed to be chasing the full-time conversion for 3-6 years, but really it is never guaranteed and I promise you they will try to low-ball you on the offer (make sure you take those years to learn the pay scales and pay attention to min/max/market). Honestly, I had to have had one of the best contracts around (20 hrs per week, I set the hours, pay rate comparable to T3 engineer) but even I grew tired of it after 2 years and got a much better full-time job elsewhere.

Explore other reviews about 3M

5.0
15 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good company to work for.

Cons

Large corp culture for employees

4.0
28 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Compensation is genuinely competitive — one of the stronger-paying manufacturing roles you'll find in the area. Benefits package is comprehensive and well above average. The retirement account and stock options are a real standout, especially for a machine operator role; 3M clearly invests in its employees long-term. Day-to-day, the people on the floor make the job. Coworkers were hardworking and easy to get along with, which goes a long way in a production environment. Upper management is what you'd expect from a large corporation — a bit removed from the floor — but that's pretty standard for a company of that size, Not a deal breaker.

Cons

The shift schedule is rough. Rotating between 12-hour days and nights on a swing schedule sounds manageable on paper, but constantly flipping your sleep schedule takes a real toll over time. Work-life balance is difficult to maintain when your "days off" are often spent just recovering and readjusting, and you can easily miss out on normal life things — social plans, family time, errands — simply because your schedule doesn't line up with the rest of the world that week. Upper management can also be a friction point. When people who haven't touched the machines in years (or ever) come to the floor with strong opinions about how things should run, it creates frustration. The folks actually operating the equipment day in and day out develop real expertise, and that doesn't always feel acknowledged from above.

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