Well actually, I heard BB is only allowing 7% of us to get promoted.
In 2024, it was close to 30%. In January 2025, BB told all the managers - you know all those people you decided in December 2024 to promote? Cut that in half.
As a result, promotions happened for only 14 percent of the company.
Not very energizing! Why stay?
Agree. Job grades are like a pyramid. Not a lot at the top and Non T-scale employees have to pretty much switch jobs to get a promotion. Once past T4 on the T scale, it is also very hard to move up
Surely you understand data and stats better than that. Lower level employees get promoted earlier (T1-T2 can be 2 years). Higher ones take longer, of course (T5-T6, e.g., It takes a while to accumulate multiple tens or more of sales dollars). So using an average is misleading.
@137 that's the point.
It looks bad to have mass layoffs every year, so Bill will drive morale down and let attrition do his job.
14% = one promotion every 7 years.
That's pretty much going to destroy morale when people were getting big promotions in 4 years that take other people 7+ years...people with the same education and job type....back in 2024.
promotions are hard to come by. i was in JG13 for 10 years but i was happily staying there by quiet quitting. win win situation
in the words of young Nelson Munz "Ha-Ha"!!!
@hs I was not allowed when I worked in HCBG to take another job when I was under 2 years.
Nowadays even JG12 & above promotion needs SVP approval. Its very difficult to justify a promotion now.
Of course except if you are hired externally into 3M.
Boring!
@jh Yet it happens.
T scale employee aren’t supposed to be promoted when changing jobs.
@ht You have to leave the company to get promoted. That’s what I did. Of course, I was laid off one month after my manager told me I had earned my promotion. Found a better job now. No regrets. It’s 3M’s loss.
If you see another role that’s interesting and you think you can be successful in it
This is the problem. There aren't any jobs because when someone leaves they just don't replace them. I've been looking every day for two years and have yet to see a job that's a decent fit for me.
Agreed. did this several times myself. And as a manager, had multiple people move for career broadening and advancement. The soft rule is that a manager can restrict movement for some time ( I think it's 2 years) after moving into a new job. But I've never seen that enforced, and I changed jobs within that period a few times.
@dg Why can’t someone at the bench move up by switching divisions or groups? I’ve done exactly that twice. There are no rules against this. If you see another role that’s interesting and you think you can be successful in it, apply, sell yourself, and go. Over time, the broad base of experiences you get will do even more to demonstrate your ability to take on new challenges.
For background, some years ago there was a study done but Tech Council, I believe, that showed promotions on the managerial side were indeed somewhat faster than on the T scale. However, note that to be promoted to a higher level on the managerial side, a slot has to exist and be appropriate - you can't just promote a manager to lab manager in the same role - there has to be a larger organization or higher level of responsibility (like other managers reporting to the Lab manager). That's why promotions often result from movement (filling a higher level slot in another organization).
There were some standard times for promotions, depending of course on performance.
I once promoted a T3 (hired in as such with PhD) to T4 in just 2 years due to remarkable performance (like 14 good patent applications and several technology transfers). Got a 5 in first year. And 5 the next. Well-deserved. But I knew of a T3 (hired as such) who retired as a T3. Did an ok job, but never excelled.
Assuming strong performance and results, my general rough estimate was
T1 - T2 in ~2 years
T2-T3 in ~3-4 years
T3-T4 in 4-9 years
Beyond that, it was widely varied.
As a manager, you have the privilege of moving up while applying for a job in a different group or division.
As someone working at the bench, we cannot even do that.
I know quite a few managers who just hop onto the next job and get the quick and easy promotions. Before they even understand how to get things moving forward they switch jobs and viola, another upward movement.
Movement of titles downward was to match what other companies had been doing for years. A VP at “X Company” was a director level at 3M. But don’t ever compare to a bank. A VP at a bank is a low manager at an industrial company. lol
Promotions are few and far between. With the flattened organization and span of control rules in place, it's not going to get any better. The higher up you are, the smaller the already smaller chance of promotion gets. JG 13-15 Promotions also rely on your boss to go through the considerable paperwork and committee approvals required.
Remember a few years ago 3M moved the titles down the job grade scale? This was to give the illusion of success. What a joke!
@b0 I'm a manager (JG14), and I haven't been promoted ever. Always had to apply to a new job to move up. Definitely not expecting a promotion now, either.
Promotions are a thing of the past, even for upper ranks.
That regulation is for people doing hands on work.
Most managers I know get promoted every 3 years or so, until they reach the Director level. Just make sure that you follow orders passed down from the Quads.
I've been in my role for four years now, and despite substantial success there's no risk of promotion any time soon.
Isn’t 14 % promotions a lot? So much of 3M was outsourced……..are the GSCs really executing that well?
Promotion, what's a promotion? Is that some special perk they have in the Quad?