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International Paper

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Solid company, solid people, reasonable expectations - SAP BW Developer International Paper Employee Review

5.0
17 Oct 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

(For the IT org): Really solid training opportunities, good onboarding, good company culture, truly decent and basically good colleagues. The comp, benefits, vacation, etc., are fairly standard. Start before New Years, and you'll pick up nearly a full year toward your vacation increase at 5 years (effectively waiting only 4 years to get that extra week off). IP is a steady and predictable employer, and managers generally do their best to ensure a happy, healthy workforce. If you're willing to go out on the limb, branch out and learn a new position, you will usually be encouraged. They're big enough to absorb your vacancy, meaning you're usually 'releasable' to another manager for internal moves, and standouts are recognized. Shared Services model in IT allows if not encourages cross-pollination and syntopical learning. You can be silo'd if you choose to be, or you can float positions every couple of years if you like. It is unlikely that a solid worker would be downsized, as efforts are made to retain 'people', not just positions. I had an excellent experience at IP, and would return w/o hesitation if the circumstances making that feasible arose.

Cons

If you really dig in and stick to a particular specialty, then advancement can be slow. In big, stable companies, many other employees realize when they have it good as well, so without standout performance or a few lateral moves (to round out technical and business experience), advancement might take a while. IF an individual thrives in a churning environment, then a smaller company with less process and planning might be preferred. The truly restless acheiver might feel stagnate, but again, a change of position and new learning is one way to keep things interesting w/o changing companies. IP is big enough to sustain some employee drift within the organization. If I had it to do over, I would have 'drifted' through more roles.

Explore other reviews about International Paper

5.0
11 Dec 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great co-workers/environment Easy work for outstanding pay Great schedule that is set for a year and allows 1 full week off every 4 weeks.

Cons

Can be extremely dirty. A bad day with plugs can be very physically demanding.

1.0
10 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits were fairly decent when I was there. PTO was pretty generous. Pay was decent enough, along with a Bonus at certain pay levels. Many of the people I worked with there were outstanding - although, most of them are gone now. They did retain a few subject matter experts, most have left or leaving - but I guess it's a possible pro they might not cut your entire department..

Cons

The Cons are the new 'wonder boy' CEO. This puts most of the 'Pros' here on shaky ground. The new CEO - Andy Silvernail, is a ruthless cost cutter. I would expect as/if the stock continues to drop - other benefits, people, or pay will be gouged - like they did the entire IT department. Andy was making big stock promises when he started up, but it was clear from the start, his only concern was the stock price. I still talk to some people they did retain or forced over ("rebadged" - such a terribly soulless word for it) to the new MSP. Every single one of them is at their wit's end. They are hemorrhaging what's left of IT in the company and all of the deep knowledge with them. It WAS a great place to work - now they report working 60+ hours a week trying to make up for the incompetence of the new MSP. At least one of them told me that he has dealt with more downtime and high priority problems in the last couple months, than the previous 15 years there. So if you are considering a job in IT at this company - in any capacity, expect to work long hours with no real path or possibility for advancement.

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