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Good starting job, but... - R&D Researcher WestRock Employee Review

4.0
Oct 18, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work-life balance, good salary, beautiful labs for R&D This was a starting job for me, so at the time I had nothing to compare it to. What was good about it was the compensation (good, not great), the experience, and the people I worked with. Is paperboard sexy and fun? No, but it provides jobs. If you work in Richmond the facilities are awesome; gym, cafeteria, and state of the art labs for R&D.

Cons

Office culture, time-off policies What was not so great was the glaring fact that this is a public company; the perception of upper management is that they value stock price far greater than employees. The culture survey really illuminated that (it wasn't good). It's an old, conservative company run by old men (don't be surprised around November when they ask everyone to vote "with the company's interests in mind"). The culture is really the worst thing; talk to the employees who have been there 20+ years and you'll understand. The vacation policy is lousy; 2 weeks until you're there 5 years. Then oh boy an extra 5 days! What really irritated me though was getting laid off after years of stellar performance. And even worse were friends getting laid off that had put in over 10 years with the company! Cool, get rid of the guy who has had solid performance and is 60 years old. What was the need for layoffs after hiring on a large amount of people? Stock price. The most important thing for the leaders of the company. Don't EVER think they will value their employees more than that.

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5.0
Apr 29, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone is professional and kind Company promotes people within the company

Cons

Health insurance premium is little bit expensive

1.0
May 29, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great pay, easy work, plenty of hours.

Cons

Some of the people who work in the warehouses are lazy and they have the so called manager wrapped around their finger, So you end up doing their job and yours. The manager won’t do anything because he is just as lazy as the warehouse guy. And is scared of the consequences if he actually does his job and disciplines the sorry ———‘s So the real workers are the only ones that suffer. That very manager told me two weeks before becoming the manager over the shipping department that he didn’t think he would become the manager because he had already told the other managers that we have to stop over working our real workers to cover up for our non workers. I told him that night he would be the same way as soon as he got the position, And if he did that I would be the first to tell him. Point being: If you are a lazy piece of trash and have no self respect or work ethics this is the place for you. Bad thing is that you can not get in touch with anyone that has any interest in cleaning up (this particular terminal ) of a very good company.

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