project engineer

project manager

driller

design engineer

staff accountant

Acco-Engineered-Systems

Insufficient training and stressful work environment where you will feel overloaded, overworked, and unappreciated everyday. They are an ESOP company which is nice however, you will earn every penny of that with unpaid overtime due to their lack of staff.Work hours are not flexible, 8-5 and you can only work remotely if you have a situation to where you have to stay home, it cannot be a habitual thing, but they do allow you to work remotely from home after work and on the weekends...You are constantly swamped and will have to make sure you know how to prioritize which can be tough if you are new to the industry. This job is for high energy single workers who do not have a family. Medical benefits are through the roof, you will be paying close to $500 in a 4 week month for you and your dependent to be on a Kaiser plan, if you have additional dependents you will of course pay more. So negotiate a higher salary to even out those odds or you will feel cheated. 

Management is overly concerned with weekly pow wows that cut into your work shift. These long and overdrawn meetings will make you work more overtime at the end of the day just to get caught up on the time you missed while chit chatting. Management also is overly concerned with being taken out to lunch by vendors which again takes you off task because you are away from your desk and not working. There are mandatory lunch and learns that are geared more towards engineering that you have to sit through. So if you planned on utilizing your lunch break to run errands, take a break.., de-stress, or get some me time, you will not have that option. On several occasions I noticed a manager arriving late, leaving early, and leaving their staff overloaded. I would not get a reply on important emails that needed to be actioned for days at a time.

Be prepared to sift through, decipher, and action hundreds of emails per day.. You will feel like an administrative assistant when having to cater to demanding project managers on a daily basis. This job is very detail orientated and there will be a ton of due diligence on your end. The interview may go well and you will feel initially feel optimistic however you will eventually feel ran down and bamboozled, so again negotiate a higher salary range. Seating arrangements suck, you are in a pod, no cubicles! Desks are small. Office and equipment are modern and they do not spare costs in that area, which is nice, but it doesn't outweigh the cons.

About ACCO

Building Confidence in Mechanical 
Design, Construction & Service

Mechanical systems are the heart of buildings. They make buildings more marketable, more comfortable, and more profitable. A properly designed, installed, and maintained mechanical system conserves energy, cuts absenteeism, increases productivity, and reduces tenant turnover. It can save an owner a great deal of money.

Since 1934, owners and builders have selected ACCO Engineered Systems to design, install, and maintain more than 250,000 mechanical projects.  ACCO is an employee-owned family of companies dedicated to the design, fabrication, installation, maintenance and service of commercial and industrial HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing, process piping, and building automation systems. 

ACCO has gained a wealth of knowledge since its founding, and has grown to be the largest and most experienced environmental firm in the Western United States, and among the top three nationwide.

Whether your project is a low or high-rise office building, a shopping mall, hospital, semi-conductor fabrication facility or pharmaceutical manufacturing plant…ACCO can design, build, install, and maintain a mechanical system to meet your needs.

ACCO has found success by evaluating overall system performance, ease of installation, reliability and long term energy consumption costs, and how these variables relate to an owner’s needs.  Through innovative engineering, comprehensive design solutions, consistent work quality, and qualified maintenance; ACCO confidently delivers the best possible solution.

ACCO offers complete in-house engineering, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and service capabilities. This integrated delivery system provides customers with the most practical, cost effective solutions for their particular mechanical and control system requirements. 

ACCO is licensed in the States of Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

As for my career at ACCO I don't really know what happened after working there 20 years, on the last day I did not get a clear answer.  One week they were paying for training courses and I was being considered for a cross promotion to a different department, a little bit later I was let go. It was weird, later I was told there were people within the company that fought for me to stay, and tears were shed but it was ultimately that one departments decision because they were directly responsible for my position and the overhead related to it. I internally billed at least 5 other departments and worked extensively with them. I enjoyed 18 years working at ACCO with the family type atmosphere it was supportive and a pleasure to serve. I know they benefited from my time there. If asked I would not ever go back to the same department though.  There are at least as many cultures and subcultures as there are departments at ACCO each one is unique and like an entirely different company. I enjoyed working for Project Management, Admin, Upper Management, Service, Sunbelt Electric and Sunbelt Controls, also Accounts Payable and Payroll and the teams put together for the various events, Engineering was a little tricky but a good bunch of people. When I worked out in the field, I enjoyed the Rigging Department a lot and the Sheet Metal workers, Safety was also a great caring team, and Cad Detailers are awesome, and I never met a bad Pipe Fitter either. I still get a call know and then for Contract Photography work from various departments and all that goes very well, and I see they use the photos in the publications. All in all, 18 years good 2 years bad.

I worked for the plumbing service department "horrible" they hire( non union) unqualified people to do the work which is not up to par,which is supposed to be a union shop, and dont have the skills and knowledge to do the job. Then to send out a real plumber to do the job, which they only have a hand full of real plumbers, by that time the customer is upset after multiple plumbers coming out that cant solve the problem, I was called to a job after 3) plumbers couldnt figure it out ,for it to be a simple back up in a main grease line, but was instructed by supervisor to do a task due to diagnosis of previous plumber, which was not the problem at all, at the same time manager of property being serviced is seeing all this take place, and cursing out the previous plumber for a diiferent diagnosis, to top it all off is a female plumber with no experience other than put a cable into a drain, and telling and charging customers for unneeded services. While all this time  this department is ran by a supervisor that has no experience as a service plumber, has not gone through an apprentiship , no experience on high-rise building, or constuction experience and is Not a plumber, for this same supervisor to lay me off with no excuss or reason
other than being Intimadated by me, because of my experience, I never had a job that was uncompleted, and was laid off for reasons unknown and was never giving a valid excuse for termination.

This company is professional, challenging and competitive.  The atmosphere is productive depending on how on top of things your Project manager is, some are more effective and productive than others.  Expect on-site visits weekly and continual learning of different projects and building types.
Expect to work along side construction works, contractors, welders and business owners.  Every type of worker is involved on each project and provides a depth to company knowledge.
This company also has in-house manufacturing of certain systems like plumbing fixture templates pre-built before commercial installation.  This causes ACCO's services and costs to be very competitive which leads to a stable job and growth opportunities.
I was an out of state intern that spent the majority of his time on-site with a project manager solving problems in real time with foremen, works and project administrators.  I enjoyed my time working for ACCO but decided that the HVAC industry wasn't for me.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Well structured, good communication between project management and foreman, separate piping and sheet metal departments, control of budget, new tools foreman trucks and electronics provided.  Company provided premium pay above the local union rates and paid union dues. Frequent training, mentoring, team meetings.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Relationships that ACCO has with investors general contractors, stakeholders and/a plethora of projects over 20 million dollars rely upon the Foreman's performance, execution and project delivery.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Team effort, open communication, work safe and efficient, be the best.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy, never a dull moment, spearheading multiple projects, several employees, stakeholders, customers, managers, vendors, personalities schedules etc.

I have been with ACCO for two years now and I have almost zero complaints about the company. It is definitely the most organized, well thought out company I have ever worked for and have a sense of pride that I work there. Management is fair, understanding, informative and all around ex excellent, especially my direct boss. I have even experienced personal hardship that has affected my work, yet management was supportive and helpful in getting me back on my feet and back in the game. They truly put the employees first at ACCO. This goes without mentioning the constant growth and attention to detail when it comes to training and educating their employees. It pays well above average with a very high ceiling if you are successful at your craft and in the right position. 

If you're an HVAC professional seeking growth - think twice. 

Overworked and undervalued employees have fostered an unhealthy depressing culture of complaints and backstabbing. Standing out in any way results in being targeted. Red flag 🚩

The management (unprofessional, incompetent, rude, under-qualified) clearly fosters an atmosphere of favoritism — rewarding some with little experience while sidelining really impressive seasoned professionals, including those whose ACCO career seems predating the management's time on earth. Major red flag 🚩 

Despite being a $3 billion enterprise a year of hard work on multimillion dollar projects yields no raises, no recognition and the Christmas bonus? Just another ACCO hat lol
Red flag? 🚩 

Make your own conclusions

A typical day used to be about learning from experienced mechanics and working as a team. Unfortunately, most of the good guys left because management overworked them, refused fair raises, and hired less experienced mechanics at higher pay. Advancement isn’t about hard work or skill—it’s about being a yes-man and a favorite. Raises rarely come easy; even when you earn them, you have to explain yourself and maybe get what you deserve. Workplace culture used to be solid, but management pushed away the people who made it strong. The hardest part is dealing with poor leadership and lack of recognition. The most enjoyable part is working hands-on with the equipment and the crew that’s still around.

If you are field service technician in SoCal and you are thinking about joining this company. Think twice. Maintenance hours are low and they expect you to make your own hours out of nothing. At times there is 100 hours of maintenance in one month for a group/area of 12 individuals. I know guys that got hired from companies where they didn’t worry about getting hours only to come here and stay home some days. They are now starting to put driver and road facing cameras on vehicles. You can’t pick your nose without being ding. They have people in management that have wack trade skills but were put in those positions solely to be the top manager lap dogs and yes man with no backbone to speak up. A lot of good journeymen have and are leaving because of this. They bring in technicians with 8 years of residential experience and hire them as journeymen that have never seen a 50 ton unit, stop me when I lie. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Project engineer 3 salaries reported	$83,500 per year
Project manager 1 salary reported	$112,500 per year
Driller 2 salaries reported	$43.13 per hour
Design engineer 1 salary reported	$33.66 per hour
Staff accountant 3 salaries reported	$29.51 per hour

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