RE: Fancy working for McLaren
Discussion
Never worked for them, but had the misfortune to work with their Exec team - they were a bunch of (undeservedly) arrogant, devious t
ts, and thoroughly unprofessional. We walked away, despite the promise of a multi-million £ contract. Have kept in touch with the one chap (ex C'X'O) who was decent in those interactions - he left after a couple of years in role, and has some very interesting anecdotes - most of what's been articulated on this thread rings very true.
Awful people, awful company.
ts, and thoroughly unprofessional. We walked away, despite the promise of a multi-million £ contract. Have kept in touch with the one chap (ex C'X'O) who was decent in those interactions - he left after a couple of years in role, and has some very interesting anecdotes - most of what's been articulated on this thread rings very true.Awful people, awful company.
Zoon said:
donutskidmark said:
Not long ago I had a guided tour of the McLaren factory- I can honestly say it was very interesting.....but some of the jobs looked so boring I’d only do them if forced to due to community payback. The place had the atmosphere of a morgue.
You know things are bad when you have to drink your coffee out of a dome bottomed mug so that you cannot put it down on your desk.
That's amazing (bad amazing, not good amazing)
I couldn't agree more with the sentiments of other users here about McLaren. It was always a dream of mine to work at McLaren Woking and I left after 8 months. Here is a summary of my experience:
Somewhere which doesn't have any kitchens, but instead you have to drink disgusting coffee from vending machines....whilst the Directors sit in their glass cages and have coffee made for them and brought in to them by a tea maid. Or how about going in to work and having to hunt for an empty desk to sit at? Or attend meetings where you will have to stand because there isn't enough seating? Or better still - if you are a gent, how about having to queue to use the bathroom facilities?
In terms of production - anyone, and I mean anyone can walk in to the factory (which is crammed to the ceiling with parts) without any security checks or approval. Standards have definitely slipped as they chase their sales targets. Dealers refusing to pay for cars to due to quality issues.
Someone mentioned McLaren high staff turnover - I can definitely attest to this. The calibre of people there in the office is not the greatest either because they do not pay very well.
Somewhere which doesn't have any kitchens, but instead you have to drink disgusting coffee from vending machines....whilst the Directors sit in their glass cages and have coffee made for them and brought in to them by a tea maid. Or how about going in to work and having to hunt for an empty desk to sit at? Or attend meetings where you will have to stand because there isn't enough seating? Or better still - if you are a gent, how about having to queue to use the bathroom facilities?
In terms of production - anyone, and I mean anyone can walk in to the factory (which is crammed to the ceiling with parts) without any security checks or approval. Standards have definitely slipped as they chase their sales targets. Dealers refusing to pay for cars to due to quality issues.
Someone mentioned McLaren high staff turnover - I can definitely attest to this. The calibre of people there in the office is not the greatest either because they do not pay very well.
Very sad thread.
I hold the brand in such high regard and this is so disappointing. Such a waste.
Im 50 years old and used to work for McLaren during school holidays. Over 30 years ago. (Where did that go!) Met all the drivers, went to a few races, crashed a forklift truck and even wrote my name on the roof of a transporter just before the Monaco GP. Ron Dennis was not happy about that!
I own a McLaren now and I had hoped it came from a factory that was a fun and exciting place to be. Sounds as if it didn’t.
I hold the brand in such high regard and this is so disappointing. Such a waste.
Im 50 years old and used to work for McLaren during school holidays. Over 30 years ago. (Where did that go!) Met all the drivers, went to a few races, crashed a forklift truck and even wrote my name on the roof of a transporter just before the Monaco GP. Ron Dennis was not happy about that!
I own a McLaren now and I had hoped it came from a factory that was a fun and exciting place to be. Sounds as if it didn’t.
Truly shocked reading this thread, I couldn’t have imagined it was so bad and the weight of evidence / first hand accounts is compelling. Incredibly short sighted by management. If you hate the place, it’s easy to resent the product which can only lead poor quality. For goodness sake, instill pride of work to achieve excellence, don’t beat your staff up! It’s like something from the 19th century. Jeez.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-24...
Looks like parking problems are a historic McLaren issue.
Looks like parking problems are a historic McLaren issue.
Hi everyone,
Been a member a while but lost my old account with an old email address so I’ve made a new one,
I feel I must wade in on this post... and a recent mclaren employee specifically at the new Sheffield plant.
I can honestly say that all the bad reviews you read here are 100% valid and true, it was honestly the most horrible place I’ve ever worked, the comments previously about management all fit perfectly with my own personal complaints.
some specific reasons are:
I was sold a job which was explained as the “forefront” of composites research and development. As a passionate composites technician. This sounded like an absolute dream. I even took a pay cut for this amazing opportunity, took the job, and spent the next year running the same machine pressing the same buttons like any old unskilled factory job, absolutely soul destroying
I found myself having to report an incident of workplace bullying And was warned “not to upset the Apple cart” The “investigation” into this lead to me being told I would lose the right to an annual pay rise and bonus. Just for reporting the incident, and being “involved in the investigation”
The entire team spent a good majority of the summer 2018 (yes, the long hot one) working in a half finished building, alongside the construction workers, with no air management and having to take a walk out the factory, across the road and into a porta cabin just to get a drink of water. (The temperature regularly exceeded 35-40°c during the day.)
Any good ideas you came up with (after being recruited looking for “exellent problem solvers”) we’re quickly snapped up by the engineers and sold forward as their own.
So, if you combine the soul destroying work, the quite frankly poor pay (I honestly earned more driving a forklift in a warehouse in my first job) the bullying, the working conditions. This all lead to the worst mental state I’ve ever found myself in and having to seek help,
I quit just before Christmas 2018, went back to my old job, another sports car manufacturer in Leeds quite well known to PH. And I’ts the best thing I’ve ever done.
Oh also, within the first 12 months, there were atleast 7 of the orinignal 15-20 through the door quit, with many more talking about it,
That being said, the majority of “the lads” technician and engineering level were sound. And probably what kept me there more than a month or two.
Anyone looking to take a jump into the mclaren Sheffield site should genuinely read every comment on this thread and have a good hard think about it.
Been a member a while but lost my old account with an old email address so I’ve made a new one,
I feel I must wade in on this post... and a recent mclaren employee specifically at the new Sheffield plant.
I can honestly say that all the bad reviews you read here are 100% valid and true, it was honestly the most horrible place I’ve ever worked, the comments previously about management all fit perfectly with my own personal complaints.
some specific reasons are:
I was sold a job which was explained as the “forefront” of composites research and development. As a passionate composites technician. This sounded like an absolute dream. I even took a pay cut for this amazing opportunity, took the job, and spent the next year running the same machine pressing the same buttons like any old unskilled factory job, absolutely soul destroying
I found myself having to report an incident of workplace bullying And was warned “not to upset the Apple cart” The “investigation” into this lead to me being told I would lose the right to an annual pay rise and bonus. Just for reporting the incident, and being “involved in the investigation”
The entire team spent a good majority of the summer 2018 (yes, the long hot one) working in a half finished building, alongside the construction workers, with no air management and having to take a walk out the factory, across the road and into a porta cabin just to get a drink of water. (The temperature regularly exceeded 35-40°c during the day.)
Any good ideas you came up with (after being recruited looking for “exellent problem solvers”) we’re quickly snapped up by the engineers and sold forward as their own.
So, if you combine the soul destroying work, the quite frankly poor pay (I honestly earned more driving a forklift in a warehouse in my first job) the bullying, the working conditions. This all lead to the worst mental state I’ve ever found myself in and having to seek help,
I quit just before Christmas 2018, went back to my old job, another sports car manufacturer in Leeds quite well known to PH. And I’ts the best thing I’ve ever done.
Oh also, within the first 12 months, there were atleast 7 of the orinignal 15-20 through the door quit, with many more talking about it,
That being said, the majority of “the lads” technician and engineering level were sound. And probably what kept me there more than a month or two.
Anyone looking to take a jump into the mclaren Sheffield site should genuinely read every comment on this thread and have a good hard think about it.
Just found this topic via LinkedIn.
I worked at MTC (Mclaren Applied Tech in Woking).
I have to agree with all the negative posts and reviews about the place. It really is that bad.
Good points:
Cars, car and more cars! You get to see all the super cars, new and historic F1 and more.
The people. The production staff through to engineers are great. Very hardworking. Very conscientious. It was a real pleasure to work with a lot of them. They are a credit to the company and frankly Mclaren are lucky to have them (while they last...)
Bad points:
Carpark - yes, it really is that bad. You will have to call a minimum of 5 people to move their cars so you can get out. Add 30mins to a working day.
Management- upper middle and exec. They really are that poor. There are people who got to where they are by arse kissing. Not by knowledge or experience. Its actually really embarrassing to see when you're used to working with professionals at that level elsewhere.
There are people at those levels who are very out of their depth... There are people with titles who really cannot do the job or make the decisions. Or they have absolutely no knowledge of the role they're in. But it wasn't one or two, it was a lot! A very strange situation and i should think the root cuase of their current situation at Applied technologies. They need some industry experts with direct experience. Not "i'm good at talking some talk". Yes PG - you are one of them!
Staff turnover: I've never seen anything so bad. People were leaving in droves. I think we were averaging 3 a week that we all knew off. This certainly didn't include everyone. People either thought is was just a very poor place to work, or were exhausted by working there (very tough time limits from design to production). Not a healthy working environment.
The attitude: Marketing people thought they were above everyone else. A weird thing to see as we ALL worked at Mclaren. Bit of a "London Bubble city attitude".
Mclaren exec board - during meeting when execs were questioned on why so many people were leaving the reply was - we are Mclaren and we can find more people to fill the gaps. Not a nice attitude to its staff really.
Finishing Supercars in the carpark - Yep, not kidding! The Mclaren bus will drive through the supercar assembly staff carpark to drop people off. You would see at least 5 cars having some work performed on them..... in the carpark?!! These are new cars!!
Using old parts in new cars - Parts of the Speedtail are made from cobbled bits of the other supercars (electronic bits, and yes they are Mclaren, i was there. I saw it and can name the parts!)
Now, if you're a customer paying circa £1.75m for a hypercar, wouldn't you expect the best parts, design and quality? I know i would. In my opinion Mclaren performed way below what i would expect. I've seen smaller companies do far better.
Staff leaving - again. So, new people would leave very very quickly. Quickest i saw was about 6 weeks for a procurement person. They thought it was so bad once they got in, they got back out again as quick as they could. And they were good at what they did. Very knowledgeable and experienced.
Woking - the place is in a permanent state of road works. Not easy to get in or out off. And there should be an investigation as to how planning permission was obtained to build 3 skyscrapers in rural Surrey. An absolute blot on the landscape! Eh, slight topic drift there....
So in summary, the most disappointing thing i ever did work wise. This was Mclaren! I was so proud when i got a job there. They were F1. They were the top of the game. I had made it!! Or not as it came to be. They are far below expectations of an automotive manufacturing company. They should be embarrassed really.
They do design an awesome track car. They have a fantastic (starting to be again) F1 team. Things may change?
Most of the negative reviews here, glassdoor and elsewhere really do represent what i saw at Mclaren.
Shambles.
I worked at MTC (Mclaren Applied Tech in Woking).
I have to agree with all the negative posts and reviews about the place. It really is that bad.
Good points:
Cars, car and more cars! You get to see all the super cars, new and historic F1 and more.
The people. The production staff through to engineers are great. Very hardworking. Very conscientious. It was a real pleasure to work with a lot of them. They are a credit to the company and frankly Mclaren are lucky to have them (while they last...)
Bad points:
Carpark - yes, it really is that bad. You will have to call a minimum of 5 people to move their cars so you can get out. Add 30mins to a working day.
Management- upper middle and exec. They really are that poor. There are people who got to where they are by arse kissing. Not by knowledge or experience. Its actually really embarrassing to see when you're used to working with professionals at that level elsewhere.
There are people at those levels who are very out of their depth... There are people with titles who really cannot do the job or make the decisions. Or they have absolutely no knowledge of the role they're in. But it wasn't one or two, it was a lot! A very strange situation and i should think the root cuase of their current situation at Applied technologies. They need some industry experts with direct experience. Not "i'm good at talking some talk". Yes PG - you are one of them!
Staff turnover: I've never seen anything so bad. People were leaving in droves. I think we were averaging 3 a week that we all knew off. This certainly didn't include everyone. People either thought is was just a very poor place to work, or were exhausted by working there (very tough time limits from design to production). Not a healthy working environment.
The attitude: Marketing people thought they were above everyone else. A weird thing to see as we ALL worked at Mclaren. Bit of a "London Bubble city attitude".
Mclaren exec board - during meeting when execs were questioned on why so many people were leaving the reply was - we are Mclaren and we can find more people to fill the gaps. Not a nice attitude to its staff really.
Finishing Supercars in the carpark - Yep, not kidding! The Mclaren bus will drive through the supercar assembly staff carpark to drop people off. You would see at least 5 cars having some work performed on them..... in the carpark?!! These are new cars!!
Using old parts in new cars - Parts of the Speedtail are made from cobbled bits of the other supercars (electronic bits, and yes they are Mclaren, i was there. I saw it and can name the parts!)
Now, if you're a customer paying circa £1.75m for a hypercar, wouldn't you expect the best parts, design and quality? I know i would. In my opinion Mclaren performed way below what i would expect. I've seen smaller companies do far better.
Staff leaving - again. So, new people would leave very very quickly. Quickest i saw was about 6 weeks for a procurement person. They thought it was so bad once they got in, they got back out again as quick as they could. And they were good at what they did. Very knowledgeable and experienced.
Woking - the place is in a permanent state of road works. Not easy to get in or out off. And there should be an investigation as to how planning permission was obtained to build 3 skyscrapers in rural Surrey. An absolute blot on the landscape! Eh, slight topic drift there....
So in summary, the most disappointing thing i ever did work wise. This was Mclaren! I was so proud when i got a job there. They were F1. They were the top of the game. I had made it!! Or not as it came to be. They are far below expectations of an automotive manufacturing company. They should be embarrassed really.
They do design an awesome track car. They have a fantastic (starting to be again) F1 team. Things may change?
Most of the negative reviews here, glassdoor and elsewhere really do represent what i saw at Mclaren.
Shambles.
janesmith1950 said:
Wonder what the staff morale and retention is like at the Ferrari road car factory?
I obviously can't speak for the whole factory, but I can tell an anicdote about meeting a designer who worked there in a carpark... I was in Maranello as part of a roadtrip in 2016 and staying the at 'maranello village' which is a combination of apartments and a hotel - serves as short term accommodation for factory staff who have transferred in or need to stay in maranello for a few weeks but it's also open to the 'public'. Usually see a mixture of tourists and people in Ferrari uniforms with site passes for the factory and buildings.
Our group were standing around in the carpark chatting and unloading our luggage when a guy probably in his late 20s came up to us on a push bike and started speaking excitedly about my NSX (he was a huge honda fan and had a civic race car). turned out he was an interior designer at Ferrari and had been working on the dash and interior parts design for one of the limited special commission cars (he couldn't say at the time which one it was, but I guess it must have been the SP38 or some details for the SG50 'Singapore cars'). He'd previously worked on the 458 and 488 interior and had been at Ferrari for a number of years.
Anyway, we talked for an hour or so about working for Ferrari - he was so enthusiastic about it he could hardly contain himself. I got the impression from him that the staff are well paid (particularly for the region) and the work conditions are good - He mentioned the entire factory gets ice cream when the F1 team wins (in 2016 they didn't get any ice creams!). Huge sense of pride seemed to be everywhere at Ferrari, during the factory tour although that could be put on for the tourists it seemed pretty genuine.
audisavs said:
Just found this topic via LinkedIn.
Shambles.
I've noticed that some companies use graduate recruitment when they have a bad reputation in the existing market. I used to work for a forensics company and they used to take on grads as they were a) cheap and b) didn't yet know what work could be like. I appreciate that a company needs to employ some grads but experience is also necessary. Shambles.
Roma101 said:
Well, hopefully the candidates will be treated better than I was. I applied for a job in Woking earlier this year and other than the immediate automated acknowledgement, never heard anything from them. It was impossible to actually speak to anyone in the HR/recruitment team so I couldn't chase it up.
Did the acknowledgement email have a 'if you have not heard in 14 days then presume you have been unsuccessful' or similar statement ? Someonle like McLaren will get hundreds of (often spurious) applications for every role..If it didn't then thats poor form.
Also just took me 90 seconds on LinkedIn to find 4 recruiters from Mclaren that can be connected to .....
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