Experience as an MQE in Lynn, MA
Pros
Adding the name GE to your resume. Certain people, especially union workers, who care about their jobs and have helped me throughout my time in Lynn, some of which who treat me like family.
Cons
**Disclaimer: I am only speaking of my experiences at GE in Lynn, MA. I cannot say the same applies to other GE sites.** My experience at GE in Lynn has been rather unfortunate with bad timing. I was hired to backfill an MQE leaving the department for another role within GE, but only had 2 weeks of overlap and "training". There was another MQE who was about 4 months in training when I started, but he quit 2 months later. Essentially, I was working as the solo MQE with little to no training at all on the product and process. The only knowledge I had at the time was clerical documentation since that was easy for a new employee to be assigned. There is no system for training or a clear description of what responsibilities are owned by an MQE. I would get emails from upper management personnel who I have never met, getting yelled at about responsibilities that I didn't know that I owned. There are software accesses that I didn't know that I needed, and it was like pulling teeth to get the information I needed to get tasks done. 6 -7 months in, I still don't have the proper accesses to software, vaulted archive/legacy sites, etc. There's a lot of compartmentalization of information and rights. I understand that this industry is guarded and stakes are high for aviation safety, but becoming so heavily dependent on individuals for certain tasks that are needed every day does lead to some tension within coworkers and becoming perceived as a PITA. The machine shop is like walking back to the 60s and 70s. Machines are so poorly maintained and constantly shutting down and being worked on, of course when delivery of parts are critical. Because Lynn is one of the older sites of GE, many practices and pieces of equipment are outdated. The software used is homegrown, extremely cumbersome, and very outdated to be effective as an ERP system. Basic functionality for tracking parts are unreliable and production meetings are held just to verify if what's in the system is correct by literally counting what's on the shop floor. The union culture was an eyeopener to me since it was my first experience working with a unionized workforce. So many functions are segregated and protected by the union that it seems to create more of a hassle to clear up technicalities than actually make a part. Many union workers are great and truly care about their jobs, but there are also some who exploit the system and get away with technicalities with outdated policies and procedures that are protected by the union. The work-life balance is nonexistent. During my interview I was asked how I felt about overtime, and I responded that I was flexible and was willing to put in time as needed. I had no idea that "casual overtime" and weekends were expected. If I had known this I would not have accepted the job. A typical day is at least 11 hours, some being as long as 12 or 13+, many of those hours not compensated for. The most frustrating thing in my experience is the daily struggle of keeping up with production and "meeting numbers". Of course all manufacturing and companies are numbers driven (nothing wrong with that), but due to the high commitments and volumes to meet, there are too many problems that are being "band-aid fixed" just to get a part out the door. I would assume many engineers want to fix a problem so that it never happens again, but this environment does not promote problem solving strategies. Every day is the same thing with dispositioning the same defects, writing the same MRBs to engineering to accept a part, without taking the time to understand root cause, pull in experts, and fix the problem!
