Where do I begin? From what I hear if you work at one of the core BAE sites such as Warton you're all right. However as an "ex apprentice" at one of the RAF bases you will be treated with utter disdain. On joining the company you are told that you are the future, the possibilities are endless and one day you'll be managing a thousand people... Rubbish.
Apprentices are hired as cheap labour and nothing more. There is absolutely no progression in place and the pay is less than £25,000 for a job with a fair amount of responsibility, skill and competence with no real means to gain more.
For every mechanic there seems to be ten managers who are obsessed with procedures and making your job as hard as possible.
There is definitely an 'old boys network' feel to the place with all the management having been mates in their RAF days. Management seem to have a real lack of respect for shop floor staff to the point that many simply ignore us.
Morale and motivation on the shop floor is appallingly low and the turnover of apprentices unacceptability high. However, the management don't care as they can replace an apprentice with a sub-contractor, Easy.
Communication is woeful partially because of the number of suits and partially because the management is so poor.
