senior production operator

maintenance mechanic

production operator

technician

r&d engineer

Coorstek

I've had the fortune and misfortune to work with a variety of people over the course of my professional career, in several different positions. I can confidently say that CoorsTek was the single worst experience I've had so far in my professional career (and I hope it never gets that bad, or worse, ever again).
The culture at the Milford facility is bad. Work/life balance is poor, where all management is constantly working 6-7 days a week and not taking PTO.
Communication was remarkably terrible, and a large part of that is because none of the departments mesh together. They all operate almost as if they're on their own, and every other department is a rival company. It was a very weird dynamic to walk into, as I had not experienced that anywhere else in my career.
Management is bad. There's no other way to put it. The Milford facility is run by a handful of people that have been there anywhere from 13-40 years. Change moves at a glacial place, if at all. Trying to do anything new was an uphill battle every single day.
Worst of all, there is no accountability here at all with management. It's a very blame heavy culture in which no one is willing to admit to their own mistakes. It's always someone else's fault.
Compensation/benefits were also some of the worst I've had at any company. The average increase is 2%. Only exceptional employees could get higher than that. Healthcare was okay but still the most expensive I've had so far. 401K was actually quite exceptional though, they had the highest matching rate I've even heard of.

Overall, I would highly recommend against employment with CoorsTek for the foreseeable future. There is an initiative from the COO to change the entire company globally, and essentially rebuilt it to become a company worth working for. I believe him, and I believe in what he's trying to accomplish. However, it cannot be accomplished with the people that are currently in place at the Milford or Worcester facilities. There are too many people there that have been there for too long. They're victims of that cliché of "too many older people here that just don't want to change because this is the way we've always done it."

If you're being considered for this position, it's because we're experiencing a mass exodus right now. People are fleeing. The work they expect from you versus the pay you get is not just unrealistic, but unscrupulous. You are only getting a raise if you tell them you're on the way out the door, even then they are going to lowball you to a point where you'll feel acknowledged, but it's only an extra twenty bucks a week. Training is non-existent, but you'll get 15 different people telling you 15 different ways to do your job. And, they'll bring the thunder if you screw up, regardless of whether you're trained or not. On top of that the production expectations are unrealistic. You'll be expected to juggle multiple tasks seamlessly, while waiting on people upstream to get you the stuff you need to do your job, and they're gonna slack off. Then you'll end up doing six hours worth of work in three. And those guys slacking off will get away with it (there's a clique of Untouchables.) You won't.They tell you "You can only get done what you can get done," but they still get mad numbers aren't met. Upper and middle management sees you as an expendable body. Management, HR, and safety have you do their footwork, and sum everything into communication meetings. The communication is all one way... That means you're not included. Bottom line, you don't mean anything to CoorsTek. They don't care about YOU.  These guy offer decent benefits, and their floor supervisors try to take care of you and get your back. But, the Magic 8 Ball says "The outlook is bleak... the light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train." A great entry level job to learn how to lift heavy stuff and learn how to be properly taken advantage of.

Just Don't.

I can't begin to tell everyone how awful this place is.  I was hired to be an IPI (In Process Inspector) and I was excited to get to work.  I found that the position was impossible,  Not only did we have to inspect but we had to take responsibility for product produced on old out date machines that could not keep an adjustment.  We were called out on MRR's everything that was produced that was wrong and it was hard to stay ahead of it....We were taking responsibility for things that were uncontrollable.  We walked on concrete floors every day with no place to sit and were not allowed to sit at any time. Operators and IPI's had to stay on their feet for 7 hours straight when they were on 8 hour days and 9 hours when we went to 10 hour days.  We were treated like children and shown no real respect and they talked about safety inside and outside of the business although they would put your life at risk to reach the factory during those snow cyclones that came through.  They really don't care about their employee's in any way shape or form and personally I am not willing to risk my life to go and have my whole life disrupted by these people.  They never pat you on the back for a good job but they are quick to tear you up if you make a mistake.  Even on a good day these people can ruin it.  I also know temp agencies will not send people to their doors.  They have a reputation for treating employees with disrespect and I can't tell you how many people came to me and told me they wanted to find another job as soon as they could.  I noticed that others looked as exhausted as I felt.  DO NOT APPLY HERE!!!!

What is the best part of working at the company?
The work schedule of four on four off was nice . And the work was interesting and challenging.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Safety is at the bottom of managements list of priorities. They don’t keep track of who is doing their job and who isn’t so if you’re a worker you end up doing other peoples work.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is a little stressful as you don’t get the product in your department till it’s already past due. It’s a dangerous job and they don’t make sure that the employees are well trained and prepared for an emergency. Just the product going out the door. Management also likes to put family members in key areas even knowing they are not suited for the position.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day starts with a turnaround from the night shift then recording temperatures and pressure of all running furnaces. Then getting parts set up and staged for reloading of furnaces. Depending upon if parts are being sintered o which not much set up involved if siliconized product must be set up in channels then strung up and correct weight of metal is added. Once loaded the furnace is buttoned up and pumped down to the torr the recipe calls for. You then do a leak back test to ensure the furnace can hold vacuum. Recipe selected I always did a safety walk around the furnace to make sure all clamps are applied and in good working condition. Then you can start the furnace.

Coors Tek has a lot of growing to get to a top-notch company. The lack of training for new employees and the unrealistic expectation makes this company a poor performer. Work schedule expectation is a prime example of how not to treat your employee (you are paid for 40 hours a week, but expected to work 60 to 70 hours). One manage once told me he stop getting paid after Wednesday, inferring he expected the same from his subordinates.  Additionally, there was no compensation for the extra hours worked. Work load and expectation often did not match, and the understanding of who is running the show was often sketchy. The weekly direction would change from day to day if not more often, depending on who thought they had the hottest issue. This made it very hard to feel secure in your position as you were not sure you were working on the right expectation.  There policy for disciplinary issue were not follow fairly, so an employee may or may not have the opportunity to get back on track and improve.  “At will” should not be wheeled like a bat or a club, you lose very good personnel when there’s not course allowed for improvement.
Coors Tek has a lot of potential for growth but it won’t achieve it if it continues to disregard and disrespect its employees.

My experience at this company was unfortunately marked by a challenging and often discouraging work environment. The culture leaned heavily toward a punitive approach, where employees were encouraged to report on one another under the guise of "near miss reports." While such systems can be valuable for safety, in practice they often resulted in disciplinary action, creating an atmosphere of distrust.

There was a noticeable disconnect between upper management and the broader workforce. While executives appeared to receive regular bonuses, raises for the working-level staff were frequently delayed or withheld, contributing to low morale across the organization.

The workplace was highly surveilled and rigidly controlled, to the point where some colleagues jokingly compared it to authoritarian regimes—an exaggeration, but one that reflects how many employees felt. Overall, it was a difficult environment for those who thrive on positivity and collaboration.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I personally enjoyed the type of work I did here since it was manufacturing that involved a relative amount of mechanical knowledge as well as being comfortable with math and measurements. Coworkers were sweet. Immediate supervisors were pretty understanding. Upper management did try to keep in touch with production staff in order to understand what was going on but there was a disconnect sometimes.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Long hours on your feet and you always have to keep moving trying to make the numbers they wanted which would frequently increase until they would realize it was not viable and then go back to a reachable goal.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It is pretty chill, it department communications well though from shift to shift there was occasionally some animosity due to problems left for the next shift to handle unnecessarily. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Punch in, have cross over with the former shift for 5-15 minutes. Then walk around to check your machines to know what your running. Typically have a meeting with supervisor. Then start your routine of measuring and keeping machines up and running.

Being the only female in a company of 30 people, I found it an unusual place to be employed. The men frequently provided opportunities to strengthen my confidence!

Our days were typically predictable and unpredictable. Setting a goal was sometimes a lofty anticipation, and I had to be ready to switch "hats" with a moments notice.

Management was usually excellent, fair and sure of their expectations. They trusted their employees to do their individual jobs well, and we didn't disappoint. As a result, I learned a great deal about multi-tasking and setting priorities, and communication with every level of employee. It was a pretty strong team.

My job was most challenging for the same reason it was most rewarding... it changed all the time. I could be acting as purchasing agent, customer support representative, inside sales, executive support, human resources/payroll rep, sales support, and a dozen other things, all in a days time. It was sometime frustrating, but it was typically enjoyable.

Long established business in Milford, NH. Experienced upper management at local site. Short term profitability is a key goal. Long term strategic planning is limited at this time. A new management philosophy. is being discussed for implementation to improve product quality, product compliance and customer relations.

Local upper management has many years of industry and market experience. Having excellent relations with the customer base have historically been a big priority.

Willingness to support the customer base with product design and applications information has helped make this business number 1 in its specific key markets. This is one of the most enjoyable parts of the job that of supporting and satisfying the diverse customer base.

Company has historically supported participation in supporting the industry as to the development of standards and regulations.

The quality of your work life depends heavily on the role you have and middle management but the good news is that on average they're quite competent. It's good, steady machining work that only requires a little prior experience because ceramics are a pretty niche product. It's a good place to learn some new machining techniques especially grinding but the skills might be less transferable elsewhere. The pay isn't the best for entry level positions but once you start getting into the setup roles it's decent. PTO is average but increases fairly quickly. Overtime depends on where the markets are but usually there's some available. Upper management is pretty opaque and will sometimes change hours/holidays without notice but its usually not too bad. The CEOs even ran some town halls which was neat. Personnel departments are actually quite good at making people feel appreciated and supporting families. Overall it's nothing special other than being in an interesting field but it's a pretty good spot and you can put your head down and make a career out of it if you want.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior production operator 156 salaries reported	$20.94 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 34 salaries reported	$29.16 per hour
Production operator 3 salaries reported	$21.65 per hour
Technician 43 salaries reported	$23.59 per hour
R&d engineer 25 salaries reported	$102,894 per year

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