Western Power WA
    (139 reviews)

    Company Reviews

    Working at Western Power WA

    3.2139 ratings in total
    5
    34
    4
    31
    3
    27
    2
    21
    1
    26
    95%
    Rate salary as high or average
    56%
    Employees recommend this employer to friends
    Work/Life balance
    3.8(138 ratings)
    Career development
    2.8(138 ratings)
    Benefits & perks
    2.9(138 ratings)
    Management
    2.6(138 ratings)
    Working environment
    3.1(138 ratings)
    Diversity & equal opportunity
    3.3(138 ratings)
    Ratings for Western Power WA are shared as-is from employees in line with our community guidelines

    Reviews

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    1.0
    Community Officer
    Apr 2026
    Perth WA 60002 to 3 years in the role, former employee
    Every day I questioned if I could manage to get through it without walking out. Life is too short.
    The good thingsMeeting some great people, some opportunities to travel, made some friendships (often trauma bonding), good provision of tech to support your work, good morning teas, some very talented operators, workers out in the field do an amazing job at keeping the electricity on with limited resources,
    The challengesToxic every man for himself culture, endlessly pushing social/ political agendas, censorship, fear of speaking out, disempower managerial hitmen, endless pointless meetings and "all ins", fake management, managers play favourites, induce mental breakdowns of staff whilst promoting "mental health" at the same time, making positions redundant whilst overloading remaining staff, staff avoid work rather than assist - often due to overload, hopeless IT and systems, poor/ weak management from top to bottom, lack of support, leadership could show appreciation for efforts made by all not just their favourites, transparency of information by management, distrust of management, woeful job and IT training, HR officers act in the interest of managers and themselves only, ridiculous levels of red tape that make doing a good job very difficult, bloated bureaucracy and management, ego overtakes talent, churn and burn of staff, great people forced out in favour of the toxic game players.
    2.0
    Machine Operator
    Apr 2026
    Northam WA 640116 to 17 years in the role, former employee
    Just a number regardless of how long you worked there.
    The good thingsPeople who were willing to work!
    The challengesOrganisation of daily tasks; toxic culture
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    Electrical Inspector
    Apr 2026
    Perth WA 60005 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    DO NOT GET A JOB HERE. you will regret it.
    The good thingsNo good things as micro managed .
    The challengesManagement are a joke....managers only interested in KPI s not keeping to agreed testing of shocks /fires and major jobs and doing small solar inspections to bump up KPIs and make the managers look good (non compliant with ISP). When questioned they got very unprofessional.
    2.0
    IT Area Manager
    Jan 2026
    Perth WA 60005 to 6 years in the role, current employee
    Good organisation, Poor leadership
    The good thingsPublic sector, Energy Transition, Community First
    The challengesThe IT leadership lacks experience. Ex-mining employees who lost their job have come with their own armada. Politically toxic culture.
    1 person found this helpful
    5.0
    Linesman
    Jun 2025
    Moora WA 6510Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Mix up and misunderstood Yes it was very good, I wished I had another opportunity to try again
    1.0
    Senior Engineer
    Apr 2025
    Perth WA 600017 to 18 years in the role, current employee
    The organization found itself adrift, struggling to find its way amidst a sea of ineffective senior leadership and a lackluster board which support these individuals.
    The good thingsNone in particular.
    The challengesSenior leadership poses the biggest challenge, as evident in reviews. Some reviews are laughable, such as individuals with aeronautical backgrounds leading energy transition planning for future transmission systems and non-engineers dictating how the network should be engineered.
    7 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Finance Manager
    Mar 2025
    Perth WA 60001 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Just avoid unless you particularly enjoy being undermined and set-up to fail
    The good thingsStrong Pay and Reward including unlimited sick leave (which in itself is a disadvantage as staff routinely are off for long periods of time).
    The challengesAwful culture; no responsibility taken for key activities and tasks that span the organisation; very much a 'blame' culture of finger-pointing; no appetite to evolve or transform; poor safety record; dreadful IT systems; highly inefficient; essentially a series of fiefdoms loosely corralled
    7 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Glove and Barrier Lineworker
    Mar 2025
    Perth WA 600011 to 12 years in the role, former employee
    A shopfront for fake office positions. Tradespersons end up leaving for contracting companies. So much taxpayer waste, management are like career politicians. No idea of the actual job tradies do. No support.
    The good thingsGoing home at end of day. Leaving Western Power for a better company.
    The challengesThey encourage you to speak up but when you do you become a target for management. If you ever question authority, you will never get any training or advancement. For every "hands on" important worker them seems to be 10 office staff trying to justify their positions.
    7 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Mechanical trades person
    Jan 2025
    Northam WA 64011 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Bad organisation and communication
    The good thingsSome good people in the work shop
    The challengesCommunication/organisation
    3 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Principal engineer
    Jan 2025
    Perth WA 60003 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Many members of the senior leadership team have only worked at this organisation and retained their positions through unethical practices and office politics. Surprisingly, they often receive praise from executives. There is no hope for the organisation until the board resolves the senior management's lack of expertise and the culture of favouritism.
    The good thingsUnlimited sick leave is good
    The challengesManagement within engineering functions often lacks a clear understanding of the work involved. Leaders in these roles, especially those responsible for setting the strategy, frequently do not have the technical expertise needed to effectively oversee their areas.
    8 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Team Leader
    Dec 2024
    Perth WA 6000Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Soul destroying
    The good thingsMy team and leaving a toxic management culture.
    The challengesIncompetent and woke leadership more focussed on buzzwords, coloured charts and 1 page summaries rather than technical details.
    9 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Project Manager
    Nov 2024
    Perth WA 60001 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Toxic culture and leadership that does not have the appropriate skills, experience or belief in accountability to drive us towards a sustainable energy future.
    The good thingsSome passionate experienced SMEs across the organisation. Great pay higher than similar role in other companies.
    The challengesThis quote from Erasmus in 1509 perfectly sums up the culture and leadership at Western Power; "The less talent they have, the more pride, vanity and arrogance they have. All these fools, however, find other fools who applaud them." Example - the only place an ex circus member with no substantiated delivery track record can learn some buzz words from YouTube and then become an Executive. Unethical waste of Company, and therefore State resources, on spinning wheels, and dealing with the fallout of poor behaviour and ill informed decisions of management. Believe the years of seek reviews that reflect the same opinion.
    10 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Change Manager
    Oct 2024
    Perth WA 6000former employee
    Western Power is a good place to work, and could be a great place to work but it will need to do some serious cultural transformation from the top down.
    The good thingsUnlimited sick leave, sick pay and hoiiday pay for contractors as well as perm. There are excellent people working here making improvements to ideate, innovate and collaborate. Everyone is willing to help you, SME's are highly experienced and good resources to draw upon to support you. Head of Functions & Area Managers are truly striving to improve the business and support their teams as best they can in a very demanding environment.
    The challengesSLT and Exec are exceedingly frustrating the progress of this organisation as they are only focused on keeping the "lights on" and so they have tunnel vision. They very much have a culture of "non-commital" and take years (literally) to make decisions and roll out projects. There is no PMO so there is a lack of project governance which leaves business units to create their own procedures for how they control projects all competing to introduce change. Senior management work in a position of priviledge and are extremely well compensated but many (not all) just tend to go through the motions of being seen to do the right things but don't really care. Key decisions seem to get deferred indefinately and there are way too many projects and initiatives all going at once. Project & Change Managers leave in frustration. There needs to be more control to reduce the chaos.
    6 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Engineering Role All Levels
    Sep 2024
    Perth WA 60005 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    I worked at this company for 5.5 years and experienced a fantastic culture, with flexible work-from-home options, great colleagues , and fair pay. However, the work environment was one of the worst I’ve encountered, with limited opportunities for growth, so I wouldn’t recommend it to friends.
    The good thingsEngineers at all levels working at Western Power enjoy a very good work-life balance. I believe their compensation is fair in comparison to the work they do, offering a fair salary.
    The challengesThis company has a highly political and toxic culture, perpetuated by management. Unfortunately, as the only utility provider, there is little oversight of their behavior. Favoritism is prevalent, and equal opportunity is often lacking. It feels like the company serves only a select group of people, where personal interests of managers matter more than employees’ background or contributions.
    6 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Administration Coordinator
    May 2024
    Perth WA 6000
    Has the potential to be a fantastic place of work.
    The good thingsRole variety, flexibility to work in different departments, most employees are hardworking, helpful and great to work with.
    The challengesNo development opportunities unless you are one of the 'chosen few'. Most colleagues were awesome but the not-so-great ones were truly awful to work with and no one seems to care how they are affecting the organisation (high turnover rate, working without collaboration when certain projects are supposed to be a team effort).
    6 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Qualified Lineworker
    May 2024
    Albany & Great Southern WA3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Could be a good place to work if the company started to value their people.
    The good thingsWorking as a team with some really good people, opportunities for training are pretty good.
    The challengesLack of common sense and accountability from management, employees on the frontline are not recognised for the great work they do and middle management seem to concentrate and emphasise the negative without recognising positive.
    3 people found this helpful
    5.0
    Commercial Officer
    Nov 2023
    Armadale WA 6112Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Great atmosphere, friendly and genuine team highly recommended
    The good thingsDiversity and family-orientated business.
    The challengesThe distance, albeit an excellent depot, was too far for me to travel daily.
    1.0
    DC Technician
    Sep 2023
    Perth WA 6000
    With management being able to hold you in a position and stop progression I thought it was best to move on as working with a team you respect is far more productive than swimming upstream and failing.
    The good thingsPay is good but it was not enough for me.
    The challengesThe work and team I went back into lacked many things in my view including teamwork and respect. Technically the skills that were available could not solve their issues and I had been in that position and worked until I gave up so Moving on was simple and easier for me.
    3 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Financial Analyst
    Jun 2023
    Perth WA 6000
    Pleasant enough but with all the general downside of being a government entity.
    The good thingsWork generally stayed within work hours. Most people friendly and nice to work with. Office itself is pleasant.
    The challengesSupport for part-time is just lip service. Within a couple months of starting there was continual suggestion of going full time to the point of even being penalised in annual review for not being available on a non work day. Two part time positions in the team eventually getting pushed into one role that wasn’t plausible for either incumbent and was a significantly overloaded role. Micromanagement and taking over of responsibilities limiting team members ability to actually do their job yet alone learn anything new. Penalised in annual review for not doing additional development (within 6 months of commencing role!) but no development is actually offered. Operates pretty much like a bureaucratic government department.
    5 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Data Analyst
    Nov 2022
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    The culture is so bad, I resigned without another job to go to.
    The good thingsUnlimited sick leave. You will need it here because the place will give you mental health issues.
    The challengesIncompetent management with no forward thinking and constant micro-managing. There are zero opportunities for personal development because managers spend all their training budget on their own personal development.
    17 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Data Analyst
    Oct 2022
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    abysmal - avoid at all costs
    The good thingshard pushed to find any ... Central CBD location, Laptop was ok
    The challengesToxic culture, abysmal leadership, uninnovate and slow to change, meetings x100s, not set up for remote working and inflexibility around WFH (in 2022!), lack of strategy and planning, low capability in team leader, mismanagment, and more
    13 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Lineworker
    Jun 2022
    Dedicated employee that gave all but got little recognition in return
    The good thingsGet to work with some great people within the company,great safety culture & 9 day fortnight
    The challengesVery poor career development,some supervisors easy to establish good relationships with while others are just very difficult & the senior leadership team don’t seem to have a clue about what happens with the staff that deal face to face with the customer’s
    6 people found this helpful
    2.0
    technical
    Mar 2022
    3 to 4 years in the role
    Inefficient and poor culture workplace
    The good thingsTechnical Knowledge opportunity. Good platform to work and good pay.
    The challengesBad politics, old system, every floor at head office act as different company, poor management, highly inefficient environment, unfriendly and non helpful managers. Misuse of positions and ranks.
    9 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Engineering Department
    Mar 2022
    It is a good company that puts its employees and customers first but there is still room for improvement.
    The good thingsSafety is their number 1 priority and if its not safe do not do it
    The challengesCommunication is sometimes very poor from those in authority
    2 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Linesperson
    Aug 2021
    5 to 6 years in the role, current employee
    If you enjoy getting paid good money to bang your head against the wall continually it's a great place
    The good thingsGood pay. This is thanks to the CEPU continually fighting for better conditions and standards
    The challengesManagement is completely oblivious to the work that happens from the ground force. Continually patting themselves on the back for work others complete. Lack of training and progression within certain areas it becomes impossible. Despite being reassured they're "All about training and progression"
    4 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Contracts
    Jul 2021
    Good but would consider the company carefully
    The good thingsWork life balance, flexibility, gained great exposure and salary
    The challengesToxic politics, promoting and retaining people incapable of the role & terrible management
    7 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Vacation Electrical Engineer
    Mar 2021
    Extremely welcoming and approachable working environmnet
    The good thingsGood development potential
    The challengesEstablishing yourself within the organisation
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    Commercial
    Mar 2021
    Politics and Agendas create a toxic environment
    The good thingsWork Life Balance is good.
    The challengesPolitics and agendas are rife. A large portion of management would not last a week in private industry.
    10 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Team Leader
    Dec 2020
    5 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Very disappointing.
    The good thingsChallenging work due to decades of mismanagement.
    The challengesVery top-heavy. Continually promoting inexperienced people based on race and gender instead of capability.
    10 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Metering Officer
    Oct 2020
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Loved the job but management was really really bad!
    The good thingsNew challenges, admin staff very good
    The challengesForrestfield management an utter joke
    2 people found this helpful
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