Avoid Manufacturing Sites. Spiraling downward fast.
Pros
Exposure to a lot of processes, fast. Will grow you exponentially if you are willing to jump on and hit the ground running, but be careful not to stir the pot along the way. Competitive salary and benefits. Plenty of opportunity to move into roles for additional development due to very dynamic team structure.
Cons
Leadership turnover and constant restructuring have created a culture of instability and uncertainty. Teams are frequently asked to absorb the impact of organizational decisions that seem disconnected from the realities of day-to-day operations. There is also a concerning pattern regarding local members of the community getting pushed out or being managed out of meaningful roles. Employees from the surrounding community remain concentrated in lower-tier operational roles while leadership positions are disproportionately filled from other countries unfamiliar in US regulations. These leaders often intend to leave the site within 3-4 years and their strategies are not sustainable for the long-term, knowing they may not have to live with the pain when they’ve moved on to their next opportunity. This has created continuity issues across all departments and plant workers remain in a constant state of stress due to abrupt changes. Combined with the waves of departures across all departments, the organization risks losing valuable institutional knowledge and meaningful training programs are unable to exist in the firefighting environment. If you move into leadership, be prepared to have to navigate the creation of novel processes with little to no guidance or the resources to make sure the process is actually a success. Every continuous improvement initiative has the same underlying tone to do more work with less resources, less money, and less time.
