Estée Lauder Companies reviews

This is a very "emotional" Company, which has its pros and cons. While there are genuinely good people who go out of their way to make sure that people are taken care of, on the flip side, important decisions are based on emotions and relationships - not on facts and what makes the most sense. The behavior tolerated at higher levels of the Company is at times unbelievable. I've seen people get away with things that would never pass at any other company of this size and influence. On the outside, the company is currently doing well in terms of their growth and profit, however, on the inside, employees are very strained and are being burnt out in order to keep this momentum going. They are also not being fairly compensated for the efforts that they are putting in to make the big changes that the Company is demanding.

Career Opportunities -You must either play the political game or get brought in from the outside to get ahead. And by the political game, I mean that the company plays this absurd game of hot potato where when projects fail, someone high up in management will be blamed for it. Those actually responsible will pass the hot potato to whomever is most willing to take initiative, and then blame them when the project collapses. The best people increasingly get fired, the most insidious (and often most inept) employees get promoted, and the cycle repeats with increasing frequency. Usually this happens via a sponsor from senior management, meaning that employees that don't know what they are doing are promoted to high positions and are kept there as long as they do what they are told from their sponsor. Compensation & Benefits -Unless you get ahead, your compensation will stagnate. Moreover, compensation is often 10K-20K less than the competition. Benefits are good and reasonable, but I'd advise against the vision plan. Culture & Values -Take the values they post publicly and flip them around completely. It is nothing on the inside as it is on the outside. They talk of uncompromising respect for the individual, ethics and integrity, but they don't do any of that. Human Resources is a gestapo. Those surveys they ask you to fill out? Don't even think about being honest with them. They will track you down and fire you or worse. Same with the Employee Assistance Program. HR is the reason why you will find enough problems for a book but absolutely zero employees known for raising concerns, as well as stories of employees that disappear. As far as ethics and integrity go, it is as if those two ideas are a nuisance to be stomped out, rather than celebrated. Work/Life Balance -For those that are actively engaged at their jobs, this place is a nightmare. For example, one of my main projects relied upon one person doing a few simple things for me, but he wouldn't answer any of my emails for weeks. Sometimes, he simply failed to do what I asked because he was completely unqualified for his job and wouldn't move over to let me handle things. If you let yourself take on too much, the company will expect that plus 20% of you next time. Senior Management -Upper management will never figure out the cause of the problems at this company, because upper management is the problem. This group of individuals is eerily reminiscent of feudal medieval city states rather than heads of departments. When problems come up, they cannibalize each other and put their own interests ahead of the company's in a climate of intense political intrigue. No job security -When things go bad, usually meaning that things aren't as good as predicted, there are massive, public layoffs. HR will even tell you outright that if you don't like it, you can leave. Tech Infrastructure -GIS. Avoid them. The technical infrastructure they 'maintain' either doesn't exist or is two decades old and crumbling.