Is working at McLaren/UK Car Industry really that bad?

[rustedmechan]

I'm a very experienced mech-eng looking for a new job. usually i work in private garages and its good, but looking for a more professional career leading to maybe management.

browsing some companies online and saw bad reviews, lots to mclaren head office in uk.

reviews say bad hours, no parking, poor management, expected overtime, blame culture.. it sounds horrible? or is that just bad employees?

Is it really that bad a place to work? Can anyone there to confirm? Or is the industry like that in general?

ty

[chunder27]

The few people I know who have worked there did not work there long. That's all I can tell you.

[anonymous-user]

A friend of mines boyfriend works there and he does a lot of extra hours without much notice and is often stressed with the workload

[Piersman2]

chunder27 said:

The few people I know who have worked there did not work there long. That's all I can tell you.

This.

I had been warned off by a couple of guys working there but was coming to the end of a contract when a suitable role came up. I then had the most bizarre telephone interview, I couldn't work out what they were expecting me to say/do on the call and I came off the call bewildered as to what they were actually looking for.

Thankfully we all seemed to agree on one thing, that I wasn't what they wanted, and it went no further.

A bullet dodged apparently, the role was not much more than a scape goat role from what I was told later.

[chunder27]

I too had the phone call thing.

Explained til I was blue in the face what skills I had, turned up there, supervisor asked me one question and I knew exactly I was not the right man.

Left hand does not know what right is doing

[rustedmechan]

Wow, so is a bad place to work and still has not improved.

Thanks for responses, considering consensus is bad then i wont even bother to applying

[Rich_W]

I've applied for a job there a few years ago. And have friends working there currently, or formerly. Predominately Automotive. But 2 in Applied Tech (composites) and a few in Racing

Random thoughts in no particular order from various sources

Their careers website isn't really fit for purpose IMO. You may notice that when you click "Save" it loses several boxes of info. So you end re-inputting it. And then wonder if it ever gets to their end. I believe it's a 3rd party system. They weight qualifications over experience too. The phone call I received was similar to the ones mentioned above and didn't lead to an interview since they wanted to mention Pay beforehand.

Pay is not inline with industry standards. The "because McLaren" thing seems to be the excuse. Surely you'll take the hit on pay for the prestigious name on your CV? 2 people I know well who are enjoying their time there are in the fortunate position of still living at home with (wealthy) parents. So money isn't the be all and end all. Whether that will change in time who knows?

Overtime. Heard this many times. They expect overtime at short notice. They do mention in every job advertised. And you sort of expect it a bit, but it can get into an "everyday" thing. Related to that is that first hour is IIRC straight time. 2nd hour 1.33x And then 3rd hour onwards is 1.5x. Believe Sundays are 2x That's per day of course so 1 hours per day 5 days a week nets you an extra 5 hours at straight time

Hours. When they first started in the early 00s, hours were relatively normal. Now they are doing so many cars the shifts are from what I'm told 0530am - 1400pm ish. And a later shift that goes into the evening. Heard rumours of a night shift in due course. And there's some gripes about shifts changing at short notice as well.

The car scheme they operate is the same as if you work for that manufacturer. So it's not anything bespoke despite what they hint

Edited by Rich_W on Tuesday 1st January 17:52

[lyonspride]

rustedmechan said:

I'm a very experienced mech-eng looking for a new job. usually i work in private garages and its good, but looking for a more professional career leading to maybe management.

browsing some companies online and saw bad reviews, lots to mclaren head office in uk.

reviews say bad hours, no parking, poor management, expected overtime, blame culture.. it sounds horrible? or is that just bad employees?

Is it really that bad a place to work? Can anyone there to confirm? Or is the industry like that in general?

Statistically speaking it's impossible for many employers to have as many bad employee's as they think they've had.
A former employer of mine got rid of and replaced 7 "bad employees" in one year, from a total work force of just 12, and from my position those people didn't actually do anything wrong, one manager (who didn't even work with them) took a dislike to them and sat nagging the owner in the Monday morning meetings, until eventually he believed the BS.

Poor management = blame culture.

[Ryan_T]

I’ve always wanted to work in the automotive sector as an engineer, but after spending some time looking on Glassdoor etc very few companies get well reviewed. McLaren is especially bad, multiple people mention a bully culture “there’s a line of people who want to work here and do your job if you can’t hack it”.

[ninepoint2]

Ryan_T said:

I’ve always wanted to work in the automotive sector as an engineer, but after spending some time looking on Glassdoor etc very few companies get well reviewed. McLaren is especially bad, multiple people mention a bully culture “there’s a line of people who want to work here and do your job if you can’t hack it”.

Guess that will be the Ron Dennis legacy kicking in, he was in many ways a genius, but in many, many more ways an egotistical meglomaniac. Probably take a few years for decent ethics to filter through IMHO

[lyonspride]

ninepoint2 said:

Ryan_T said:

I’ve always wanted to work in the automotive sector as an engineer, but after spending some time looking on Glassdoor etc very few companies get well reviewed. McLaren is especially bad, multiple people mention a bully culture “there’s a line of people who want to work here and do your job if you can’t hack it”.

Guess that will be the Ron Dennis legacy kicking in, he was in many ways a genius, but in many, many more ways an egotistical meglomaniac. Probably take a few years for decent ethics to filter through IMHO

I hate to say it, but companies never turn good after they've gone bad. If managers leave, the employees are still angry and don't change, if employees leave, the management and remaining employees instil the same "values" in any new employee. The worst thing is that anyone who leaves takes this "rot" to their next employment as well, which is why/how so many old+large companies are terrible places to work.
It's also why they prefer young graduates, because they don't answer back or defend themselves and they make great scapegoats, they're also cheaper than experience.

I have some pretty bad experiences, I want to put them behind me, I keep a positive attitude, but even now i'm on guard, I won't give any more than I need to, no unpaid overtime, no more bringing my own tools to work, start on time, finish on time, because experience has taught me that it's not about hard work, it's about lying, cheating, scheming and screwing over colleagues, things i'm not prepared to do.

[Otispunkmeyer]

rustedmechan said:

I'm a very experienced mech-eng looking for a new job. usually i work in private garages and its good, but looking for a more professional career leading to maybe management.

browsing some companies online and saw bad reviews, lots to mclaren head office in uk.

reviews say bad hours, no parking, poor management, expected overtime, blame culture.. it sounds horrible? or is that just bad employees?

Is it really that bad a place to work? Can anyone there to confirm? Or is the industry like that in general?

ty

Where are you based and what are you looking for? We might have some vacancies for someone like you. The business is in a transformation stage, working on new products and services to offer OEMs. Aiming for management or becoming a specialist is a good idea.

Can't say much about Mclaren mind. I do have a friend there who works in Powertrain for the road cars. He's been there a while so he obviously likes it, but he is very good and has previously done some time at various motorsport outfits including F1.

Everywhere has its problems. Here is no different. But its a very nice place to work, great people and still has a university campus feel about it (it was after all, set up after the war as a research association (which might give you a clue!) and its very easy to just wander about into any department to ask people what they're doing or go ask for advice etc). Its a large site, there is always something interesting going on.

[rustedmechan]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Where are you based and what are you looking for? We might have some vacancies for someone like you. The business is in a transformation stage, working on new products and services to offer OEMs. Aiming for management or becoming a specialist is a good idea.

Can't say much about Mclaren mind. I do have a friend there who works in Powertrain for the road cars. He's been there a while so he obviously likes it, but he is very good and has previously done some time at various motorsport outfits including F1.

Everywhere has its problems. Here is no different. But its a very nice place to work, great people and still has a university campus feel about it (it was after all, set up after the war as a research association (which might give you a clue!) and its very easy to just wander about into any department to ask people what they're doing or go ask for advice etc). Its a large site, there is always something interesting going on.

If you could DM me your contact details that would be great.

[daddy cool]

rustedmechan said:

reviews say bad hours, no parking, poor management, expected overtime, blame culture.. it sounds horrible? or is that just bad employees?
Is it really that bad a place to work? Can anyone there to confirm? Or is the industry like that in general?

I did a couple of months there in the summer of 2017, after being made redundant at P&G, though based at MSO in Old Woking, rather than the new site, and in a supply chain role. Not that P&G was particularly "modern" in its work/life balance principles, but I was immediately struck by how old fashioned McLaren was - ie, you have to stay there till at least 5.30pm, regardless of whether (like me) you were in at 7am to miss the traffic. Could understand it in certain roles, but what I was doing could be done in SAP at any hour of the day... it was all about how it "looked" to management, rather than results.
I would get filthy looks when I left (in their opinion) early, even though I was simultaneously bked for exceeding 40hrs on my contractors timesheet.
My Manager was pathetic, and his manager a ball-busting control freak that needed "report A done by 10am", but also needed you to email her to say you had done the report, and ideally also verbally tell her that you had emailed her to tell her you'd done the report. FFS!
The parking at MSO was pretty bad (but I was in early, so always bagged a space) but the main site is nuts - if you work there you are usually boxed in by 3/4/5 cars, and need to phone all the owners to come out and shuffle theirs around if you go early. It takes about 10 mins to get across site.... apparently the original staff expected was ~2000 and Woking Borough Council agreed to a carpark of ~1500 to encourage getting in by public transport. I think the current staff is around ~3000... you do the math!
On my first day - an induction at the MTC - I was amazed that it was about 20 people starting at the same time, and that's a regular thing. The turnover is shocking...
It was a 2 month contract with a pretty clear understanding it would go permanent, but just before the 2 months were up i'd had enough of being treated like a child and told them im not intending to stay on.

On the plus side, it was quite a treat to see behind the scenes, as I was there during the F1 season, and im glad I was in the MSO department, as my interest is more in the older cars and the weird and wonderful customisations being done in the garage underneath my office. They had just flogged their F1 GTR (for ~30 million) and it was being prepped I was wandering around it like I was in a Volkswagen dealer showroom... plus there were cars being trimmed in dubious colour schemes for Michael Fux and others... some of the stories I heard from the mechanics were hilarious.
I found a permanent job soon after, and having "McLaren" on the CV (albeit briefly) is a conversation starter if your interviewing likes their cars! Would I work there again? No chance!

[Otispunkmeyer]

rustedmechan said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

Where are you based and what are you looking for? We might have some vacancies for someone like you. The business is in a transformation stage, working on new products and services to offer OEMs. Aiming for management or becoming a specialist is a good idea.

Can't say much about Mclaren mind. I do have a friend there who works in Powertrain for the road cars. He's been there a while so he obviously likes it, but he is very good and has previously done some time at various motorsport outfits including F1.

Everywhere has its problems. Here is no different. But its a very nice place to work, great people and still has a university campus feel about it (it was after all, set up after the war as a research association (which might give you a clue!) and its very easy to just wander about into any department to ask people what they're doing or go ask for advice etc). Its a large site, there is always something interesting going on.

If you could DM me your contact details that would be great.

I think you need to enable email DM's I tried but it says not permitted!

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Wednesday 2nd January 14:43

[CX53]

I worked for McLaren for a bit contracting as a composite Laminator making the F1 car, I thoroughly enjoyed it although the hourly rate wasn’t brilliant compared to the team I’d come from, but the environment was nice and friendly colleagues.

Compared to the rest of F1 the overtime wasn’t really that heavy even during the car build season.

Workload was ridiculously tiny, I struggled to busy myself for more than half of the day, when I asked for more work I was told I could pop downstairs out the way and play on the computer

If it was closer to home I’d never have left.

[markcoznottz]

daddy cool said:

rustedmechan said:

reviews say bad hours, no parking, poor management, expected overtime, blame culture.. it sounds horrible? or is that just bad employees?
Is it really that bad a place to work? Can anyone there to confirm? Or is the industry like that in general?

I did a couple of months there in the summer of 2017, after being made redundant at P&G, though based at MSO in Old Woking, rather than the new site, and in a supply chain role. Not that P&G was particularly "modern" in its work/life balance principles, but I was immediately struck by how old fashioned McLaren was - ie, you have to stay there till at least 5.30pm, regardless of whether (like me) you were in at 7am to miss the traffic. Could understand it in certain roles, but what I was doing could be done in SAP at any hour of the day... it was all about how it "looked" to management, rather than results.
I would get filthy looks when I left (in their opinion) early, even though I was simultaneously bked for exceeding 40hrs on my contractors timesheet.
My Manager was pathetic, and his manager a ball-busting control freak that needed "report A done by 10am", but also needed you to email her to say you had done the report, and ideally also verbally tell her that you had emailed her to tell her you'd done the report. FFS!
The parking at MSO was pretty bad (but I was in early, so always bagged a space) but the main site is nuts - if you work there you are usually boxed in by 3/4/5 cars, and need to phone all the owners to come out and shuffle theirs around if you go early. It takes about 10 mins to get across site.... apparently the original staff expected was ~2000 and Woking Borough Council agreed to a carpark of ~1500 to encourage getting in by public transport. I think the current staff is around ~3000... you do the math!
On my first day - an induction at the MTC - I was amazed that it was about 20 people starting at the same time, and that's a regular thing. The turnover is shocking...
It was a 2 month contract with a pretty clear understanding it would go permanent, but just before the 2 months were up i'd had enough of being treated like a child and told them im not intending to stay on.

On the plus side, it was quite a treat to see behind the scenes, as I was there during the F1 season, and im glad I was in the MSO department, as my interest is more in the older cars and the weird and wonderful customisations being done in the garage underneath my office. They had just flogged their F1 GTR (for ~30 million) and it was being prepped I was wandering around it like I was in a Volkswagen dealer showroom... plus there were cars being trimmed in dubious colour schemes for Michael Fux and others... some of the stories I heard from the mechanics were hilarious.
I found a permanent job soon after, and having "McLaren" on the CV (albeit briefly) is a conversation starter if your interviewing likes their cars! Would I work there again? No chance!

Would that be the orange gtr that was on display for years?

[daddy cool]

markcoznottz said:

Would that be the orange gtr that was on display for years?

Nope, it was a silver/grey one if I remember correctly... been googling it but cant find any mention. To be honest, I think it was a fairly discreet sale.

[Cyder]

Interesting that the views above are very similar to a few people I know who have worked there recently.
One lasted around 6-8 weeks in a commercial role, and others I know have gone into engineering and popped out the other side very quickly.

In answer to the second part of the question, I don't think the UK car industry is a bad place to work, yes it's long hours sometimes at short notice when a disaster happens, but I was always fortunate that I got paid overtime for it. The workload and stress can be high (I don't know how it compares to other engineering areas), but the work is generally varied and interesting.
I've been fortunate enough to travel the world, test and evaluate cars on proving grounds and stand at the end of production lines as the first new car with parts I was responsible for developing on it have rolled off the line. It's quite satisfying.