Bad locations, low salary and hold-hand rail policy obsession - Graduate Engineer EDF Employee Review

2.0
Nov 24, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is aware of the fact the they need new people. For this reason, they treat graduates well. The graduate scheme is well organized even if it is up to the graduate to find a place where to live for a few months. There is a lot of technical stuff on the plant, and one can learn a lot.

Cons

Power Plants are, for obvious reasons, located in the worst places of the country. Working in a Power plant means living in a small and sad town near it. This is not really the lifestyle a young graduate would expect to lead. Salary is low, graduates earn 26 thousand pounds a year before tax and senior managers would earn approx 75'000 pounds and the end of their career. No benefits at all, no car, nothing. A recent company policy forced all emloyees to hold handrails on stairs. And if one doesn't do it, god, everyone is ready to tell you off. When I experienced it, I first started wondering if forcing employees in this way is even legal in the UK....

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5.0
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is a great place to work

Cons

None, company is a great place

5.0
Apr 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Real opportunities to grow into more technical roles (Control Center Operator → Systems Engineer paths exist and aren't just on paper). You get hands-on experience with industrial systems most people only read about — OSI PI, SCADA, OMS integrations, cloud telemetry — which is hard to get elsewhere. Management generally supports continued education and certifications.

Cons

Decisions move slowly. Getting tooling, software, or process changes approved often involves multiple layers, including approvals that flow up to the French parent company. Procurement and IT requests can take weeks for things that would take a day at a smaller company. Some legacy systems and processes haven't been modernized — you'll find yourself working around quirks instead of fixing them.

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