Headed in the wrong direction - Research Scientist Dow Employee Review

1.0
Nov 14, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Colleagues (not leaders) are the best part of Dow. Majority of employees are very nice to work with. Can’t think of any other pros

Cons

The company is headed into wrong direction. The board needs to intervene and purge out incompetent C level executives who have been responsible for driving the stock price from ~60$ to ~20$ in less than a year. The extreme focus on DEI is counter productive - it is costing the company a lot. Promotion freeze and hiring freeze is in place for about a year yet you’ll see higher level directors and fellows get promotions. The policy is not applied to all levels equally. Spending freeze is getting to a ridiculous levels. Workstations haven’t been upgraded for 4+ years. The awards and recognitions have been stopped for over a year. The morale of the workforce is very low. Despite laying off a significant portion of employees, the leaders have unrealistic expectations about the amount of work that needs to be done. The employees have been reduced but the work is still the same if not more. The Dow chemical company from 2022 and from today are not the same. It will probably take years to recover from this position. The company wide surveys for leaders and organization have been discontinued. The flexible work has also been discontinued - the company didn’t fail cause employees had flexibility - the company failed because the leadership has been a disaster. This company needs a fresh start and purging of current C level execs. If you have an offer from Dow, please reconsider it. There’s no growth or promotions for at least 3-4 years.

Explore other reviews about Dow

5.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture and the technical expertise within the company provide for a working environment where you don't work in silo and everyone is willing to help support you

Cons

Administrative systems can be burdensome to overcome.

2.0
Mar 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Safety culture, flexibility (although less and less over time). Good health insurance and 401k match

Cons

Dow’s recent years illustrate the challenges of trying to simultaneously satisfy Wall Street’s demands for strong financial performance and aggressive DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) priorities. The company has heavily emphasized inclusion initiatives, including its openly gay CEO publicly sharing that coming out was one of the best days of his life in an internal communication, along with a notable increase in women appointed to senior leadership roles. Hiring practices reportedly require diverse candidate slates—including female candidates—and diverse interview panels before filling positions. These efforts, while well-intentioned, appear to have contributed to a series of questionable strategic decisions. Employees have borne the brunt through repeated rounds of layoffs (including significant cuts announced in recent years), minimal merit increases often in the 2-3% range, stalled promotions, and little turnover at the top levels of leadership. Senior executives seem insulated from the consequences, potentially overlooking how these factors—including their own leadership—may be central to the company’s ongoing struggles.

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