Pros
At the plant level, there are loyal workers with long length of service with invaluable tribal knowledge that can be utilized. The plant I was at took safety very seriously.
Cons
Corporate management is completely detached from the reality of what happens at the facilities and how to manage the company for long term growth. With the acquisition in the last year and half and the company going public, it has only gotten worse. Employees are merely numbers and stockholders are the priority. Short sighted goals and no concept of succession planning will cripple the company in the coming years. Technology for computer software and systems is ancient or non-existent. As a result, administrative tasks lack any efficiency and aren't uniform from plant to plant. Corporate's management of facilities is "command and control" with a dictatorship style. Plants have learned it's better to keep your mouth shut, as asking for help from corporate or reporting issues results in punishment. Benefits are horrible- HR revamped them within the last few years to cut costs and with it burdened the employees with poor coverage at high costs. Little effort is given to promote wellness. Employees have little work/life balance as production is expected to come first. The once admired family culture of Grede has been completely destroyed- no effort is made of any kind to develop a positive company culture. I would be surprised if corporate HR has any idea what "company culture" is as their incompetency level is unbelievable- they are task-completers and paper pushers with no sense of strategic partnership with senior management. I would NOT recommend this company to others. Most employees that work there: 1. Only have skills sets translatable into a foundry environment 2. Are rooted in the community and can't find a comparable job in the area 3. Are using the job as a next step in their career before leaving Few people work there because they like the company or job. Senior management down to direct labor at the facility level complain constantly.