material handler

inside sales representative

order picker

territory manager

shift manager

Alro

Working at Alro was a good experience for me. It allowed me to utilize my own skills while developing new ones. It is hard physical work, but easily manageable. This allowed me to stay strong, healthy, and active. Safety is very important to Alro and they have an ever expanding grasp on trying to make it safer for all. If lifting and repetitive motion isn't for you? If you're not willing to put it the effort? If you are not willing to work safe? You shouldn't apply.
On the downside, management seems to detached from the employees working in the warehouse. Sometimes this is good, giving you the space to breathe. As long as you do you job and do it well, there is little to interfere. But this also leads to a lot of in office talk, hearsay, and sometimes lack of advancement. People who whine get ahead while those that do their jobs get ignored because they are not a problem. Even actually shining does little to get you noticed other than having more work put on you. Another area they fail in is confidentiality. Tell anyone, you tell everyone.
It isn't a bad job at all. But like anywhere it has room to grow. Unfortunately, Alro always seems to be growing in the wrong directions. The rules and regulations are always making it harder to work inside the  constraints. They seem to be lacking in leniency as they go ahead. It also creates a double standard and rift between worker and management. That workers are held to a far stricter standard than management.
Overall I'd recommend applying here, though with the afore mentioned cautions. Your are here to do a job. It needs done. And it needs done right the first time.

A typical day was to get ready and put on safety gear, get to your post and see what is needed to be done, organize, prioritize, and get started.  I learned a lot about metal (different types and grades), how to use heavy machinery, and to package.  The higher management employees were really good people and good at what they do.  The immediate supervisors however are where the problem comes in.   Some are better than the others, but the one I had was not so great.  He did not like to do any work at all, and would not help in situations of need.  He did not like my brothers (One was a competing supervisor for a position he wanted, and the other works under him).  Therefore, he did not treat me well, even though most of the other coworkers did not like him either, due to poor treatment and lack of work ethic.  The poor treatment, I believe, took part in why I was let go during my probation.  No other management is ever on the floor to supervise the supervisors.  They also will believe the supervisor over regular employees.  Other than that, most of the coworkers were nice, I got along with them, and were all hard workers.  The hardest part of the job was trying to balance the speed they wanted, with the safety, and perfection required in such a short time and lack of training.  The most enjoyable parts were working with the other employees, using the heavy machinery, and the physical aspect of the job.  I liked the overall job, but I was wrongfully let go.  I am a hard worker and don't believe my performance was an issue.

Management promotions were based on friendships or military background solely. didn't matter if someone else was more qualified. if they weren't military, no promotion. 
Long hours of being harassed by a bunch of guys on a power trip . One higher up telling you to do one thing, then another 5 minutes later telling you to do something else only to have the first guy come back yelling that you aren't doing what he said. 
The only culture that exists within this company is work everyone to the bone and then mandate them on VOLUNTARY overtime on Saturdays. 
Turnover rate was so high and their solution was rush people through training by handing them off to whoever was nearby so they could go sit at a desk and watch the workers on the cameras so they could go yell at someone doing anything slightly different from what they want done. 
"Performance based reviews" were how they decided to not give you the raise you deserved. They normally take the negative interactions after harassing you for hours/ days/ weeks/ months trying to get you to snap to use it against you. 
Pay is not worth the harassment and I left for a better opportunity. The last 2 weeks I dealt with even more harassment but they always said,"if you don't like it here... leave" So I did

Believe me, I could keep going. They are currently in construction on a bigger building so massive amounts of hiring are sure to be coming. 
Don't work there, just trust me.

Business taken over from previous owner and kept employees, but they weren't able to pass the new philosophy to those employees. The knowledge and ability of those former employees were great to have for context of the business, but the "this is the way we have always done it" doesn't allow progress. Work smarter not harder, but if someone else has to finish what they started or find where something was placed, you're not working smarter. Will say it is a bit disorganized and it doesn't need to be, but they are dealing with an older business's building and layout. They are updating the facility and that may help but it was too little too late for me. Some leaders got their position because they were the only takers, but that shouldn't determine a good leader. Some want overtime so they take there time, or some can come in whatever time they want and leave when they're done and then someone else has to deal with it. Most days you could be done in 5-6 hrs, but they want 10 so let me slow down so we can get more. They are more focused on line items for particular customers and orders are constantly changed so they can make delivery time, which is just to meet a metric. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good Benefits! Insurance is really good and Paid time off

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Barely operating at a skeleton crew capacity and not actively looking for anybody to fill open positions. Dysfunctional, management that does not communicate very well at all. Aging equipment that's constantly breaking down and NO maintenance personnel on-site for repairs. Very hard to balance personal life and work-life.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Tons of favoritism involved. people love to shift blame to others, So you constantly have to watch your back and make sure your butt's covered. On almost everything you do!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Seeing is how we are so understaffed, I have to pull my own material. Set up my own jobs, run my own jobs. Unload my own jobs, return my own stock that's left over and I occasionally have to try to repair the machine if it breaks down on me because there's no maintenance personnel.
And some jobs aren't even correct to begin with, And that requires playing phone tag with people In a different part of the state to Try to fix the issues. Which, way more often than not, still can't get right. Because they have no idea what I'm talking about.

Be ready to deal with a short staff. Your shift is usually long and slave driven. It’s all about going as fast as you can and if you aren’t fast management will scold you (even if you been there for only weeks). Employees don’t want to help each other out usually. A lot of “that’s not my job” or I don’t want to do it attitudes. Management promises it’s going to get better. That is their slogan. “It’s going to get better hang in there”. Whole time they are just wanting you to stay so they are not short staffed and they aren’t running around trying to find a way to get the work load done for the day. Benefits are good but that’s about the only pro. You get a paycheck and good benefits. You will be happy for your 3 week training and think positive about the job but once you get in the seat, that happiness turns into a drag to even go to work. This is one of those places that you use because it’s a job and need something temporarily until you find something better or waiting for your actual job to come. Inventory is messed all the way up. You will have locations that don’t have material or have a completely different material and you will have to Easter egg hunt the material and nothing that I have seen is being done about it. They need to do a overhaul of their inventory so it’s more accurate. 

Expected to wear hard hat, gloves, safety glasses, full sleeves all the time no exceptions in summer time extreme heat almost impossible 10 degrees hotter inside than outside with no air movement at all, went to my shift after 3 weeks of training and was expected not to take any 2 of my breaks or my lunch at all. Disorganized mess loading trucks and staging of bundles waste so much time looking for and placing in order all customer shipments completely frustrating and waste of time no lean principles or common sense at all used in warehouse. So hot and almost intolerable heat might as well just wear a winter coat in the summer with all the PPE youre required to wear. Supervisor only worked there a couple months and never had even driven a forklift in his life. I finally went to my shift and they immediately changed the hours were we came in 30 min sooner and all we did for the first hour and a half was wait for previous shift to get done with equipment so we could start loading complete useless waste of time tactic of coming in 30 min earlier than before. Unorganized, frustrating, miserable, hot drenched in sweat the entire time mess.

The company offers good training and opportunities for those who are inured in the American corporate model culture.

The demands of all positions are very high but at the facility I worked the resources available currently are not sufficient to support the corporate, and in-house management demands.

A typical day at work would be driven by production demand.
I learned the operation of a range of structural steel cold-saw equipment. I learned a great deal about the American 'corporate philosophies and practices'.

Management of the facility I worked at was firm but fair and as long as you measured up the support structure is quite good. In the main the people I worked with were a good group of guys and gals, all of us were pressured to produce and to many of us the requirement for "above and beyond" was constant.

The hardest part of the job was the long hours required, the VERY long, in some cases, hours that were more the norm than the exception.

The best part of the the job was the rank and file camraderie on the shop floor.

The management staff actually has very little understanding of the task at hand. Even fewer having the willingness to learn or help. There are way too many managers and they are all telling you to do something different and constantly yelling at you if you dont get a task done exactly how they want it. Departments are consistently mismanaged and micromanaged. Overtime is often mandated at the last minute(usual a hour to prior to the end of the shift) without regards to employees outside situations and obligations. They do offer a generous amount of paid time off, but will never approve it due to being consistently short staffed. Management is often very unprofessional, going so far as to cuss at employees. Management is also very negligent to the goings on of each department, as well as the general well being of the staff. The company has a ridiculously high employee turnover rate. Could be a better place to work if it was not for the poor communication skills and lack of understanding how to even do the job from management.

Very little of the management staff actually has a grasp of the task at hand. Even fewer having the willingness to learn. Departments are consistently mismanaged and micromanaged. Company preaches a safety culture, yet constantly encourages corner cutting in order to increase productivity. Overtime is often mandated at the last minute(usual a half hour to 45 minutes prior to the end of the shift) without regards to employees' outside situations and obligations. They do offer a generous amount of paid time off, but will never approve it due to being consistently short staffed. Management is often very unprofessional, going so far as to cuss at employees, this includes the general plant manager. Management is also grossly negligent to the goings on of each department, as well as the general well being of the staff. The company has a ridiculously high employee turnover rate.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Material handler 32 salaries reported	$24.28 per hour
Inside sales representative 4 salaries reported	$25.50 per hour
Order picker 10 salaries reported	$26.00 per hour
Territory manager 1 salary reported	$70,000 per year
Shift manager 2 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour

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