Don't be fooled by outdated notions of Kodak as a dying film company -- the new Kodak is cool and digital! - Recensione dipendente - Dipendente anonimo presso Eastman Kodak

Kodak feels like a team. Very little corporate backstabbing BS. Great work life balance. The people care about each other and want you to succeed in your work. No one is trying to put you down. So overall, good work environment. Also, there is a gym so you can workout and shower before or after work. There is also a 12% company funded retirment cash value account for salaried employees and 13% for hourly employees. Typical PTO structure for hourly employees and unlimited PTO for salaried employees, 11 holidays, and decent benefits. Also, for the first time in over a decade, Kodak's balance sheet is coming back into balance. They are investing heavily into other parts of the business to make them profitable but the Film department is still carrying the entire company with solid numbers. The chemicals department shows some real promise for future growth as well.

The CEO can come across as a bit stuck up, but it is made up for in fantastic middle level management and quality department heads. Also, 60% of the employees are within 5 years from retiring so one of two things is about to happen, either it is an opportunity for rapid advancement for the younger and newer employees as management turns over quickly, or the company will implode through the brain drain of having skilled operators turn over faster than they are able to pass along their critical experience to the next generation. I am rooting for the former.

To be fair, there are smart, capable people here, and the Kodak name still opens doors. But culture and execution matter more than branding. Without clarity, trust, and leadership engagement, even good ideas struggle. I don’t regret the experience as it was instructive. But if you’re considering joining, ask very specific questions about role boundaries, feedback cadence, and how decisions actually get made. Don’t confuse constant motion with real progress.

Working at Kodak was an eye opening experience in how large, legacy organizations try to reinvent themselves while still dragging along all the habits that made reinvention necessary in the first place. It often felt like roles were constantly shifting, ownership was unclear, and people were operating on instinct rather than alignment. There was a lot of activity, plenty of meetings, and very little agreement on who actually owned what. One colleague in particular somehow ended up doing several jobs at once. That may sound impressive, but in practice it created confusion and friction. When one person tries to be everything, it leaves everyone else in an awkward and unnecessary position.Leadership was mostly absent until it wasn’t. There was also a noticeable top down culture. Certain personalities didn’t invite discussion so much as compliance. Offering alternative viewpoints wasn’t encouraged, and collaboration tended to flow in one direction. Confidence often crossed into condescension, which made an already challenging environment harder than it needed to be.