packager

technical sales manager

scientist

material handler

environmental specialist

Amvac Chemical Corporation

Pros:
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It was a very educational experience learning so many things at this plant, though it was quite stressful at times. I was paid a competent salary, not the most but average for a ChemE starting their career. I learned a lot from the experienced engineers/staff in the plant and had the opportunity to do some engineering calculations, like hydraulic calculations & simulating process equipment, which was my favorite part of the job.

The Engineering department has good people and excellent engineers. The ChemE's are some of the smartest people I have ever met and a big reason why AMVAC’s Axis plant is as successful as it is.

I had the chance to participate in and lead multiple PHA’s during my time here, something not many young ChemE’s get to do.

I liked getting to help operations and build relationships with the operators, who were in general hard-working and pleasant people. It was a pleasant change to the engineering design/process safety work and I could learn how the equipment actually works.

Almost all office workers, including engineers, got their own office. Having the space to make your own and be able to close your door to focus on your work or eat lunch was amazing.

I got solid experience in process engineering, process safety, & production support in general.


Cons:
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The culture of the Axis plant is very much centered on “good enough” and almost nobody strives for perfection in order to achieve excellence in their work. I found this depressing, as I strove for perfection to deliver excellent quality work and was frequently asked to just deliver “good enough” work. I knew I could not take forever on my tasks, however I felt the balance was tipped far too much towards “good enough,” which inevitably cost the plant time/money later when mistakes and bad decisions came to the surface.

I think very few people at AMVAC wear less than 3 “hats” or large responsibilities; I personally found this very tiring and quite inefficient. I also found that AMVAC did not cross-train employees very well or at all, therefore when one person was not at work or was busy with one of their other responsibilities, no one else could perform their work well or at all.

The management is not the best and was pretty inconsistent in their way of managing me and giving advice on how to complete my engineering tasks. I appreciate they didn’t micromanage me, however they were pretty far on the other side of the spectrum, which is also not so helpful.

There are almost no young people to work with, in the Engineering department or elsewhere in the plant. Not having another young engineer to learn concepts with made it hard to relate to the experienced engineers, as they had a hard time coming down to my level to explain concepts at times, though they did try their best.

I did not have much room to grow other than a pay raise and eventually rise up one level, after 10-20 years of experience. You will keep doing the same work, for the same people for most of your career at AMVAC.

I worked on average 45 - 55 hours/week, which is probably to be expected as an engineer in a chemical plant. Some weeks were very stressful and I would easily work closer to 55 hours/week, making the $/hour rate pretty poor when compared to other positions with less hours or higher salary.

There are not enough engineers/chemical engineers for all the processes & projects going on. I think a similarly sized company would have more chemical engineers on staff, probably 2-3 more engineers to provide production support especially. AMVAC’s Axis plant had 4 chemical engineers, at the time I worked there, with most focusing on design & process safety, not production support. I asked management if they thought AMVAC would hire more engineers in the future, and they said “We doubt it.” This did not give me hope, as I already felt overloaded in my work and saw the potential for engineers to take on projects that were getting forgotten or done in a rush, due to pressure from management.

Human Resources is not very professional or personable, and they do not know the policies/benefits of the company well enough. They relied on their subordinates to answer such questions, which I thought was odd.

Overall, work here if you are just starting your career or have few other options. This is not a bad place to work, but there are many other companies and workplaces that I believe are better to work at. Learn what you can, don’t focus on the bad, and leave when you build some experience.


Advice to Management:
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Hire better management for Engineering, people who want to be in management. Continue improving culture in general and promote quality & safety in all aspects of AMVAC’s business. Hire more Chemical Engineers to take on projects that get forgotten or rushed, and to support production more consistently.

I worked for Amvac for several years. The insurance was excellent but being the only person in my department with a degree, I worked the longest hours, was paid less than my counterparts, passed over for a management position even though my degree is in Business & the person chosen did not. Never allowed to work from home even though others in my department were able to. Unfairly punished regardless of FMLA time. In planning, everything is your fault. Even if you do the upmost due diligence, somehow, someway, you should have caught it. Spend hours checking behind others to make sure they did their job correctly because you can't do your job. Even if you go to management & express your frustrations, the resounding reply is "well, that's just how it is." I was unfairly terminated because COVID testing took 20 days for results & I was under doctors' care for extreme anxiety, migraines & provided doctors notes. Again asked to work from home & was denied even though laptops & instructions had been sent for those needing to work from home. I was drug around for a month, terminated on May 22nd, "unterminated" the next week & terminated again on June 13th. While out, my emails were ignored numerous times by HR & management. You can call me a disgruntled employee & you would be correct. Just a reminder that in corporate America, you are just a number. 

One of the best things that I enjoyed besides the work experience was the employees. Everyone seemed to get along and be able to work with each other no matter how stressful the job may have been or what deadlines were pressing. Even at the worst of days, everyone made sure that they left the office on good terms with the people they worked with. 

Another aspect of the job was how the employees were there for each other. When I first came to Amvac, I had a hard time understanding some of the duties that was required. Fortunately, my coworkers helped me understand the systems and duties that I was to perform until I got the hang of things. I also remember one manager was going through a terrible divorce with his wife; yet his coworkers continued to support him and  be as helpful as they could to him in any way possible.

Amvac is not the worse place to work. Yes, it has its problem as most companies do. Benefits are good but not as good as they once were.  They dont offer much PTO you start off with 2 weeks and accumulate that through out the year. Dont get extra week until year 8. Pay depends on position but has improved over the last several years, but is still behind most companies. Overall a good place to gain experience  as you will do more here than most postions at other companies.  Overtime is available  often but has slowed down from previous years. The company seems to have put more focus in improvements over the past year or so to better their processes. This company does have a high turnover  rate and management  is the main reason maybe not so much local but corporate for not addressing  issues with the company.  Compensation to work ratio is problem the #1 reason most people quit Amvac. Most jobs here are physically demanding and the pay does not reflect that. 

Lousy management in a run down facility.  Love to point fingers while problem remain unsolved.

Stagnant pay with no potential for growth.  No fix responsibilities or guidelines.  Hardly any training.  And those who do the training, they don't even know what they are talking about.  No teamwork and lack in communication.

Air in the facility are horrible especially at night!

Job responsibilities are being shift around like a ping pong ball, quality control people few are diligent and honest but the rest are fudging number left and right and worse of all, management know but they don't even care.

When in doubt fudge it out is their motto especially in the leadership position.  Though I must praise the supervisors and managers on one thing, when there is a problem, they will shut you up quick.

Fast paced work environment, great benefits, very fair pay.  Company is growing at a steady pace - not too fast to overwhelm everyone, but enough so that there's a lot of opportunity for those who seek the challenge.   Work/life balance is good, although like any job, there are times of higher stress due to work demands. Employees throughout the company are so knowledgeable and very quick to help each other out.  Also a lot of long-term employees, including the CEO and other senior management. The company is diversifying the types of products it makes and sells, including internationally, which probably makes the company more stable and also makes the job more interesting.

I saw many people come and go at my time at amvac. Seen people that were great employees get fired over small things just to be made an example of but then people that aren’t good workers get away with big things just because of who they are. Always come in to a change in the schedule. I will say things were starting to get better when I left so it’s good that they are trying to do better instead of sticking the their old ways

I worked independently and implemented uploading merit increases via an excel spreadsheet template into the payroll system.  I enjoyed working with the benefits coordinator as well as the HR Administrative Assistant.  The most challenge part of the job was the failing equipment related to the time clocks which caused duplication of efforts. The most enjoyable part of the job as a great team and positive environment.

Amvac was indeed so far the worst job I ever had! No consistency in management, you didn't know from what day to the next your job assignment. Very poor management from HR to the department supervisor, No confidentiality, the abusive language and no equality. It was like pulling a ball and chain to have to get up and go to work every day!!!

Its a good stepping stone for experience. You wont get that much PTO here. Very low so I had to think twice before going internatioanly especially the furthur countries. You have to stay 7+ yrs just to get 3 wks of pto...which in my opinion no one would want to stay this long...Fortunately the company i work for now offers better vacation. Other than pto, work it self and pay was great

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Packager 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Technical sales manager 2 salaries reported	$110,000 per year
Scientist 2 salaries reported	$110,000 per year
Material handler 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour
Environmental specialist 1 salary reported	$81,000 per year

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