Working at Jacobs in Anchorage, AK: 1 Employee Job Reviews by Real Employee working in Anchorage, AK Area

"Jacobs corporate culture was horrible. It seemed like their mottos were "Policy and procedures over people" and "Corporate is always right". I worked in the same office from 2006 to 2020, in different departments for different managers. The company was acquired four times during my tenure. We were Jacobs from December 2017 to April 2019 and it was the worst managed acquisition I had been part of. On Day 1, Jacobs started layoffs. The WARN Act requires employers give 60 days notice of mass layoffs. Jacobs avoided the requirement by laying off less than 50 people in a location at one time. They didn't even notify local managers ahead of time. Instead, each Friday from December through March, Corporate sent local managers a list of employees to layoff the following Monday. It got so bad by the end that HR referred to it as the "March Massacre". After the initial layoffs, Corporate managers traveled across the company to hold town hall meetings. The message was basically, "There are great things ahead. We're streamlining for efficiencies, so if there's someone elsewhere in the company who can do your job cheaper, you're out." Corporate's streamlined efficiencies included aligning job titles across the enterprise. That's Jacobs-speak for changing people's job classifications, usually moving them to a lower rank and salary. The alignment didn't take industry sector or cost of living into account. Nor did it include the expanded job responsibilities following the massive layoffs. We had 6 different insurance plans in the 16 months under Jacobs. Local managers had little authority with their teams, contracts, clients, or vendors. Corporate dictated daily operations. It was a huge relief when Worley acquired the division! The only good thing about working at Jacobs was their Editorial Style Guide. I improved the readability and clarity of our documents because the guide required active voice and a conversational tone. I still use the guidelines in my current job."