welder

welding inspector

senior assembler

naval architect

electrician

BIRDON

A complete revolving door flustercuck of a company. In the span of a year, over 30 employees have come and gone. Constantly hiring, major trouble retaining talent/institutional knowledge. Considering just how unique and challenging the work is, it takes a while to become skilled here no matter your background. Therefore, training ends up being perpetual, as skilled and trained workers become fed up and leave, and green new hires fresh out of school are hired, and the already unbearable work load with impossible deadlines falls ever harder upon more seasoned veterans. If you come here, and dedicate yourself, and pour your heart into your work, work will be treated as the reward. You will be given more certs, so you can do more, without recieving more. It will be your responsibility to make a contract profitable that was designed to lose money for the company from the get go on time, all while missing and waiting on essential parts and materials for days or sometimes even weeks at a time. Ypu will deal with faulty tools and machines, but have your skill be blamed for your work quality,  then be told the problems with your tools is in your head. Management is egotistic, incompetent and will not listen to criticism, or be told the right way to do things by someone actually doing the work. Pay is a travesty for the sector birdon is in. Advancement? They will hang that carrot over your head, as you work harder, and harder, and harder all while being promised that you are just so close to moving up, while handing you work orders that people at your level have no business doing. You will be taken advantage of, up until the day you quit. Management somehow does not understand why they can't keep employees, but also doesn't care to do so. There is no finish line. There is no end of the tunnel. Just an onslaught until you break. One of the worst companies I've ever worked for.

Birdon pays well for the beginner but advancing within the company has proven to be difficult. They will sweet talk you with raises and promotions to keep you complacent, and get what they want out of you but never follow up with it. They pick favorites to be they’re “team leaders” regardless of skill and leadership qualities. Birdon is looking for people they can pay the least while still being at they’re becking call to work all the ridiculous overtime and to give up your personal life for a company that doesn’t care about you. Management will make all of their problems yours and hold back raises and promotions due to boats being late when most of the reason for deadlines being missed it due to poor order of operations, missing parts, unorganized tools, or just straight up going months without certain tools and equipment we need to do our job, like welder plugs, cords and consumables. Birdon is a good place to work if you want to get bent over.

When I came in I was sold the swan song of being compensated and taken care of climbing the ranks they promise you boat after boat that you will get a raise then find all sorts of reasons not to do it. They bury you in work in complete unsafe conditions the injuries are on the rise during my time there were at least 20 injuries and instead of trying to take care of you they blame you even though the conditions are completely unsafe the only thing that was good was anyone who isn't management had your back and would try and help you through your struggles but unless you want to take on 3 jobs cause the turnover rate and management is so terrible for not good pay then this place is the place for you and good luck on that one they will just pour honey in your ear till you get so burned out that you have to leave because of how stressed out you become.

Fast, growing company with good leadership.  Many new faces on the executive leadership team were good hires and care about the people and culture.  

There is growth for folks that buy into leadership's vision and are willing to commit to the deadlines.  Should be a stable place of business for years to come with long tenured government contracts.

Birdon has great people but the workload and high demands can deter a lot of folks.  Many companies that go through high growth stages have to deal with these type of issues.  However, the stress and high demands are not for everyone.

High turnover. Frequent use of profanity towards employees and aggressive actions like slamming on desks created a highly disruptive atmosphere. The manager’s habit of spitting, belching, and passing gas openly in the office contributed to an uncomfortable and unhealthy work environment. There was a significant lack of organization within the management team, making it difficult to complete tasks efficiently. The dissemination of unreliable information consistently complicated our work and undermined team efforts. The toxic work environment and unprofessional behavior from management make it a challenging place to work effectively.

Start the day with a morning meeting. Then they go over your goals for the day. Then you get on the boat and start your welding. when you first get hired you’ll have to take all your weld tests and that can take about 2 weeks. Then you’re able to start welding on the boat. That’s where it gets tricky because they don’t really train you on how to do the job. Then they wonder why people are quitting and why they are under staffed and why the boat can’t get done on time. But hey if you want to work a easy job that’s made into a challenging one this is the place. 

I worked there for 4.5 years. I had 11 certs, 3 previous and they tested me for 8 more. Even after passing all 8 weld tests, was only on record for 6, never got promoted to Welder 3 or paid accordingly. The work was steady and they kept everything running through Covid. They offer full benefits but they aren't great. 

Expected to use personal cell phone for work with no reimbursement and they play the game as it’s not required but if you don't then you cannot get your job done and see what happens. Exempt employee does not get overtime I would often work past midnight performing server maintenance and they would not give me any comp time expecting me at the office at 8:00 am the next day.

There is a whole lot of turn-around at Birdon. Folks get stressed out very quickly and either get fired or quit -- usually in a few months after employment. Each person has to answer to several bosses and end up getting overloaded with multiple tasks but with each task being touted as "important and urgent."  Most folks can't handle that sort of stress.

I have been employed for nearly 5 years. Every day poses its own challenges. If you are driven and strive to succeed there are plenty of opportunities for advancement. Although this is production welding, every day for me is a different experience with different challenges. The pay scale for comparable positions in other companies is higher especially with the built in overtime every week. I take pride in working for this company. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Welder 12 salaries reported	$28.86 per hour
Welding inspector 1 salary reported	$80,000 per year
Senior assembler 4 salaries reported	$28.68 per hour
Naval architect 3 salaries reported	$81,117 per year
Electrician 3 salaries reported	$30.37 per hour

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