project engineer

engineer

project manager

site engineer

team member

Downer Group

What is the best part of working at the company?
I really enjoyed my role and the impact I made on the company.  One of the main, and most enjoyable parts was the positive and enjoyable people that worked there; it felt like home in a very short period of time.  If it wasn't for management 'downsizing' and consolidation of my role to Australia, I would have stayed on at Downer.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Unsure if I can note a specific stress point since I manage stress very well and don't let it deflect me from what I and my team need to accomplish.  The one main issue was the lack of understanding and empathy for any management, technology, process changes decided in Australia upon the systems and people in New Zealand; I had to continually highlight 'impacts' to NZ and be a strong advocate for NZ to clarify and develop workarounds/impacts to decisions made in Australia on the four business units in NZ.  It was challenging and only wished that Australia tried to understand, or to at least engage with me more than to just make decisions without consultation.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Superior in New Zealand, but only limited understanding in Australia.  The interactions with people in overall in both countries was very good and developed working and personal relationships in both countries.  As noted before, the people and how they worked together was fantastic and I looked forward to going to work there.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Sorry, no typical day; though, I had scheduled activities, meetings, and deliverables scheduled as needed.  Out of a typical day, I would guess it to be about 15 to 25% typical (e.g., answering emails, calls, attending meetings, etc.), with the vast majority related to responding to issues, consulting and coaching with my Program/Project Managers and other staff, whether on my team, or supporting other business unit teams, or other companies I supported in NZ (of which there were three).  Never boring and always challenging; they brought me in to take control of a very chaotic situation and deliver and mitigate NZ and Australian problems and workout solutions.  Developing strategic objectives, business plans, portfolios of work for the business', and 'make things happen' and get things done to improve the company and someone that can be contacted as a 'go-to' person.  Enjoyed the role quite a bit.

•  a typical day at work would begin by arriving by bus to our dongers. Minimum safety P.P.E on, we sign on and blow in the alcohol testing device. Put our food in the fridge. Sit down relax, chat or prepare ourselves for the shift (Fill water containers etc..) Begin pre-start with 5-10 min stretch out session. Which commonly would be led by a volunteer. Then the Pre-start would then begin with management communicating all relevant information pertaining to the jobs required. Then we would go to our supervisors and be given our specific jobs for the shift. Locking and signing onto a permit box before going to site. We would then prepare our paperwork and tools. After arriving at our specific work area., we then would fill out the required documents before we begin our task. Then we work safely together thru-out each shift. We eat and drink plenty of water. Have rest breaks if needed. Until the end of the shift. Where we make sure we unlock & sign off our permit to work box, before leaving site. 

•  what I learned was safety is everyone's responsibility.

•  management- I felt that the majority of management was easy to get along with and they knew what they were doing.

•  I met a lot of good guys that really knew there job.

•  the hardest part about the job was that the job finished.

•  the most enjoyable part about the job learning new skills and advancing my Rigging skills.

A typical day would be, read emails from previous day, attend prestart meeting. Update registers as required, Go out into the field and visit work groups and speak to them to ensure that there are no safety or general concerns. Return to the office and discus any concerns with management. If changes are required complete these changes and ensure that they are fully communicated to the crew.
 From this project I have learned traffic management skills having gained a basic traffic management ticket. This has allowed me to view traffic management set ups and ensure that they are safe and correct, I also have a better understanding of road maintenance principles. The hardest part of this job was to convince senior management of the need to have a construction risk assessment  so that we could look at our most serious risks and plan for changes..
The most enjoyable part of this job was working with the managers and crew, They would come to us with ideas and most of the time they would recommend improvements, we were able to make some changes for them .

Water cart operator is my main daily job, watering haul roads and every day clearing  the work area of dust. I also drive dump truck and find the 789 is so much more comfortable

You are never to old to learn from the young or the old. As a Health and Safety Rep you are learning every day and I welcome the courses and guidance in this role.  I have just completed the two day ICAM course and found it very interesting.

Management at Downer are very approachable and they are not afraid to have a chat. They never have and issue if you need a moment of their time to discuss any issues.

My co-workers are a very close and we not only enjoy each other company but we socialise out side work.  We work well together and are able to have a laugh together but can also tell each other if there is and issue.

The hardest part of the job is the 2/1 roster.

I enjoy most days but the best part of my job is, as a Heath and Safety Rep I am able to learn something most days. I get to be involved with a variety of issues

What is the best part of working at the company?
Downer provides a lot of internal training for their staff to grow and unskilled in their respective work area and also have set very high benchmark safety and anti discrimination and harassment standards. Their is very great workplace balance.
Above results in very efficient, displayed and very highly respectful workforce.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Can't think of one. As stated earlier Downer provides a lot training and care for their employees. Their is Employee assistance and support group set up as well which provides guidance Nd support if one needs assistance.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very accommodating and respectful people whio have a very professional approach to work and towards fellow employees.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Start with checking the email and then setting the priority of work.

I started at Downer with the hope of it being the beginning of role where I could progress professionally. I soon discovered that my fellow colleagues were exceptionally unhappy in their workplace. And I soon discovered the legitimacy of their claims. 

The management team were unapproachable and quite simply workplace bullies. It was shocking to witness. Staff were afraid to even call in sick so would come to work sick. Misinformation provided at initial interview about things such as work/ life balance. 

Required to work weekends, public holidays with no additional benefits or pay. Numerous attempts  to contact HR about issues resulted in no response. 

Onboarding and orientation was flaky and unorganised. Required vaccinations were not organised and it was  only discovered they weren’t done months after start date. 

Would recommend staying FAR away from this company. 

Good workers, staff however, unsupported by layer upon layer of senior management who are definitely not "for the people".

Not far from slavery, long hours and management don't like to listen so best to just shut up and get back in your box, do your job and take the pineapple.

Lots of emphasis on making money, little investment in people or tooling. 
 
Don't bother asking for new machinery or equipment even though it is causing you to be delayed and stressed fixing broken tools constantly. Get used to being blamed for delays due to the company providing inadequate equipment which doesn't enable you to do your job and wastes hours each week.

Summary: Good workers and lower/middle staff who are bled dry by an uncaring senior management more interested in chest beating, employing even more useless senior management and producing fancy intranet pictures.

What is the best part of working at the company?
10% of the staff are decent hard working people who are willing to work as a team. The rest are lazy and management is toxic. No training provided, it's teach yourself at WCH, they will work you like a slave until you're burnt out, we're all just a number at that site!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The micro management, always short staffed, unrealistic times allocated to jobs, the Carps job tracking system, and the good workers are always carrying the lazy sneaky workers that get away with doing nothing!

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic, nasty and game playing from management and 90% of the staff!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Always chaotic! Not organised, turn up to shift and they plonk you wherever they're short, and you are not trained correctly, so set up to fail!

A typical day at work is when 300 paper work of data entry comes through and there's already a three days worth of work awaiting to be input into the system, there is also calls to be made to book appointments for the fitters or technicians, and there's reports to be created for the managers and the company whom operates the projects. The management team is like any other management team in other companies I have worked for, there is always room for improvement. The hardest part of the job is when you feel unappreciated with the hard effort and work performed and the most enjoyable part of the job were the good people and friends I met and learned from their experiences and have helped me along the way

While a lot of companies have already experimented with outsourcing to offshore contractors, realised it doesn't work, and brought the roles back into local offices - Downer is only just beginning this experiment and there is very little job security. 

The office in North Ryde is basically the same as any other North Ryde/Macquarie Park office, the pay is around average, sothere is not much incentive that separates it from the many many other corporate jobs in the area. Accept that it is particularly slow, offers very little in the way of growth (both salary wise and personal development), and offers zero perks. 

I would say it's good for someone looking for short time employment, but even then it's nothing special

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Project engineer 8 salaries reported	$136,000 per year
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$110,000 per year
Project manager 12 salaries reported	$168,958 per year
Site engineer 7 salaries reported	$98,571 per year
Team member 6 salaries reported	$34.64 per hour

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