Pros
The only reason to work here is if you don't have a job and you're looking to make ends meet. Or, if by some stroke of good fortune, the company survives and begins to grow, you may have an opportunity to make a name for yourself if you get in early on and can survive the ordeal. And I'm using the term "survive" in a literal sense. There are some REALLY, REALLY good people here. But beware, nearly all of them are looking to get out. The remaining staff are being ran off by flawed and outdated management philosophies. Intimidation is not leadership. The non-exempts are very nervous because of so many exempts jumping ship.
Cons
The leadership philosophy from the top down is to beat up their exempt employees until they feel they must work 14 to 16 hours a day, day in and day out, in order to keep their job. There is no incentive program other than if you keep working long hours, you'll get to work another day. There is NO concept of work/life balance. This philosophy is promoted at the highest level of the HR Organization. The hard work won't pay off either. The company is simply too small for anyone to move up. The local leadership at the plant promotes a cut-throat environment in that all managers/supervisors are encouraged to beat up on each other and constantly fight among themselves to the point that makes the non-exempts miserable. There is no concept of teamwork! This has now resulted in a loss of nearly half of the salary exempt employees in less than twelve months. And there are more to come. The safety culture is terrible. It all seems to be lip-service. When there's an incident, you get the required visit and scolding from senior leadership. You get the lecture that safety is of utmost importance. But when it comes to spending money to fix the place, that's about where it ends. The plants are old, dilapidated, and in terrible need of repair and update, just to make them safe enough to continue operating. Infrastructure repair and upgrade projects have been scoped, bid, and submitted to senior management for approval, but that's as far as most of them get. It is a chemical plant for goodness sake. There is some really bad stuff in tanks and pipes that we don't want to get out of the tanks and pipes!!! The situation is dire. Finally, I am concerned about the long term viability of this company. If you are looking to go here and are weighing other options, ask these questions before you commit: 1. What is the current capital budget and how does it compare to previous years? 2. How many product lines have you sold off or liquidated within the past twelve months and how many have you introduced? 3. What is the current headcount, when/how has it changed in the past twelve months, and how many positions are not currently filled or have been recently filled? 4. How much has been spent on safety programs and initiatives within the past twelve months? 5. How many resources have been devoted to R&D in developing new products in 2014? 6. How many hours per week will I be expected to give the company? (Get this in writing!) 7. What is the current incentive program? 8. How many incidents have there been in the past twelve months? How many recordable injuries have there been in the past twelve months? How many regulatory violations have there been in the past twelve months? What details are you willing to provide? 9. How committed are you (the interviewer) to staying and for how long do you (again, the interviewer) intend to stay? 10. May I tour the facility and talk to any of the other employees about their opinion of the company, management, and the current state of affairs? (If granted a tour, pay close attention to the equipment and infrastructure and remember, this is an OSHA PSM covered facility).