material handler

warehouse worker

customer service representative

operations team leader

senior operator

GEODIS

NOTE: This is from someone that worked in Dallas HR, not a warehouse worker.

I honestly do not have anything to say about this company, good or bad. From a recruiting POV, the process is so clustered it's not even funny - there is absolutely zero consistency not only in process, but also in content, that no words can describe it unless you experience it for yourself (it's the professional equivalent of taking a bite of something that tastes horrible, then handing to your spouse and saying, "taste this, tell me if it's bad"). 

I was hired as a seasonal recruiter in support of the 2019 peak staffing ramp, and was hired due to my expertise in not only ramps as a whole, but my background in both HR and Operations. When at the client site (operations), I was viewed as HR, and when at HR I was viewed as operations. 

Though recruiting is assigned to HR, the recruiters themselves - especially the temporary/seasonal ones - recruiters are NOT HR (though are put in the role when onsite), and are treated like redheaded stepchildren (I can say this because I happen to be a redheaded stepchild) by the rest of the HR staff when management is not around. (Segway, the local HR manager is very sweet and decent at her job, but overwhelmed with duties that should be delegated to an assistant manager or a coordinator.)

The "ATS" (I use this term loosely), is not being utilized properly, and is extremely unforgiving during a candidate's application experience - one slip up in entering the UID and it eradicates the entire profile, and an entirely new profile (and email address) must be used instead. Unlocking the account is impossible. Oh, and reports - if you are a recruiter, forget it. Advice is to use your own spreadsheet and track your numbers on your own.

The current fulltime recruiter in the Dallas office has absolutely no clue what he is doing, and is so stuck on titles that he forgets how to focus on his job - nay, do his job properly - all the while throwing others under the bus. I fielded so many complaints from the seasonal help regarding this person (as well as the rest of the HR staff, minus, ironically, the only other seasonal coordinator) that I simply gave up all hope and began looking for another job.

Would I work for this company again? Honestly, I doubt it. They need to re-org the entire HR division, create a separate recruiting department that does not fall under HR (or create a hybrid management role where management has experience in both HR and Operations), and cease using staffing agencies altogether... OR... rely 100% on staffing agencies, and stop using a localized FT recruiter as well as seasonal support. Their bottom line is utilizing their budget effectively, and the current direction that they are going in, it's going to implode.

I won't sign my name for obvious reasons, but for those that may be reading this and have worked for Geodis (Dallas) this peak season, I am very sure you know who I am.

OHL was a Wal-Mart dot com distribution warehouse. A typical day at OHL consisted of diagnosing freight not receivable and sending the problems to Wal-Mart corporate. We created staging lanes with numbers and each case that had an issue being received had a ticket number assigned by Wal-Mart. I updated our spread sheet which would tell us exactly where the tickets are located in the lanes. I would have to use forklifts throughout the day to pull resolved tickets to our receiving area and also stage the Wal-Mart pending tickets in to its correct location. Once the freight is in the receiving area, I had a team of material handlers that would sort and receive the product. Maybe twice a week I would have to load the non conveyable product back in to the trailers and send it back to the vendor. Before I load non-cons I would have to get a weight and dimensions of the product to be sent back. 
   As for OHL being a fairly new company, the managers were also learning the best ways to run the warehouse. Every morning we would have a meeting discussing our goals being met and talk about new goals we need to achieve. They also stressed to us how important it is to utilize the correct safety measures. Most members of management were actively supervising on the warehouse floor. 
   A lot of my co workers were temporaries. Some were more motivated than others. The OHL employees acted as good influences to the temps and everyone is there to help each other out. 
   The only time my job was ever hard is when I was learning all of the new information and techniques upon first being hired as a temp. I caught on really quickly and OHL noticed my potential and gave me two promotions.
  The most enjoyable part of my job has to be that no one was ever looking over my shoulder to make sure I'm doing my job. Every time anybody would see Adrian Valdez, they knew he was being productive and taking initiative.
   I learned a lot working at OHL. I learned the process of inbound receiving and also my department which was called 'remedy'. I learned to used multiple Microsoft programs for email, tracking and data entry. I have known how to operate a sit down forklift for 3 years but OHL taught me how to use the stand-up high reach truck, stand-up dock stocker/loader/clamp, and the stand-up order picker. I also learned a lot about leadership. I was responsible for my material handlers team and I had to provide work for them throughout the day. They came to me with any work related issues or problems and sometimes I would put on a short small meeting to explain to everyone that way there isn't anymore confusion in a certain area.

Geodis has encountered many changes over the years, most of them for the worse. Since laying off dozens of staff in 2023, pushing more work to salaried employees, resulting in burnout that lead to mass resignations of quality, knowledgeable team members; Geodis has struggled to keep sufficient staffing for key accounts. This creates immense pressure for all staff, with the expectation that salaried employees especially, work well beyond 8 hours a day, with mandatory weekends that are not compensated. All the while, Geodis' pay scale falls short of competitors. There is little engagement from Senior Management with no regard to the amount of work that is necessary to "get the job done". Branches are closing, middle management is stressed and resigning, leaving poorly trained, untenured staff to manage under less than ideal conditions. There is little practical training for operational leaders, who are often left feeling unsupported and unprepared to manage the full scope of their role, which inevitably is reduced to putting out the innumerable fires that come with low morale, insufficient compensation, unrealistic heavy workloads, and lack of competent staffing. There is a general feeling of no matter the amount of time dedicated to the job, staff are always behind. Perhaps worst, is that staff with low productivity, ineffective roles, and higher salaries fall between the cracks and are unchecked while employees who work hard, are rewarded with more work. There's a reason everyone is leaving. 

I love all of my coworkers and the community we have built here at Geodis however, it doesn't make up for what the company is lacking when it comes to pay, lack of advancement, hours and favoritism. When we are busy we can work 12 hours a day at least 5 days a week with the start times constantly changing depending on the day and workload. You never know what time you will be coming in or when you will be getting off until the day before. Scheduling is a joke many times as they always change it. You will do many different jobs within the week or even within the work day. This variety can be nice but it can also be stressful and inefficient. Proper training is rarely given for picking especially with the new hires being penalized for mistakes they were never taught were mistakes. Management does help out on the floor which is a very big plus. You can find the managers blasting orders or picking up trash. That is awesome but unfortunately they lack is so many other areas. The pay is not competitive at all for the area. We are paid $3-$10 less than other warehouses in the city. When they did their "competitive wage increase" they raised the pay a little bit but only for newer employees. If someone who has worked here for 10 years had finally reached the level the new hires were getting paid then they did not receive a raise at all. Our most loyal workers do not get any additional compensation or recognition. If fact most of the new employees will be making more money than the veterans within 6 months. They do not reward loyalty here. The benefits are okay but nothing great with high deductibles. Promotion only happens if you are a favorite. No one is promoted based on qualifications but who they know. They don't want anyone with an opinion that goes against their own even if it would improve the company. Overall I would not recommend this job to anyone except maybe as a summer job for a college student living at home with no real bills.

GEODIS is an excellent company overall headed in a very positive direction. The potential upside of this company is very promising and there is a vast array of opportunity with this company. However, on a more local scale, the culture in specific facilities varies greatly. I've learned that management takes a very lackadaisical approach to discipline and often times the results are different for different people. There's no consistency in corrective action. Also, members of the management team make things very personal and often times do not properly communicate.

The workplace culture, though it has its flaws, is pretty comfortable. The teammates are overall a positive group and I find that they are willing to help in every way they can when you treat them respectfully and make them feel a sense of pride in their work. To me, that's the best part of the job. Engaging with my associates and seeing how good it makes them feel. Greeting them each individually and not just speaking to them to demand high production or requests for overtime from them. They work hard because they feel good about doing it, not because I'm forcing them.

The hardest part of the job is trying to navigate in an environment with inconsistency in communication, discipline and management buy in on continuous improvement opportunities. Often times moves are only made and things only get done when the order comes down from someone at a certain level of management, despite someone lower on the chain making the same suggestion prior. I've learned that in order to get some things done or some changes made, I have to go to upper management for them to pass the word down because my message gets overlooked when I send it out. 

Despite the difficulties, because I believe in what this company as a whole represents and I see potential for growth and development, I plan to remain with GEODIS for a long time. There are global opportunities and I am looking forward to growing and advancing here.

I worked at the Geodis (Apple) warehouse in Mount Juliet. The job was a temp-hire assignment from my staffing agency. As a material handler you will generally be picking/packing. Management wants you to pick at a high rate to get orders out as fast as possible to meet production numbers. I was a picker in the department I worked in. The work is generally not hard or physically demanding. Packing is very simple and requires you to pack product in their specific box and attach all necessary labels. You will get one 15 minute break and one 30 minute lunch. If you are late to work or late from lunch by 1 minute you will receive a point. Call outs are 2 points. As a temp I was only allowed 6 points. More than 6 point may lead to termination.
During peak season there is plenty of work to keep you busy. After peak season the work slows down drastically. The management team could use some work. My management team did not train or coach ways to improve my performance as a picker. The only training I received was from the trainers during orientation and minimal training during 2-3 day "training" period. Management team treats workers like they are disposable. Language from the management team to employees was very condescending. The management team often talked down to employees that may have made errors during work or did not meet their numbers etc. During peak season management does not want workers to talk to each other and stay on task. 
During the 2 months of working for Geodis cuts were constantly made and workers were let go. Coworkers and I were approached for a possible full time positions with the company. I completed the application and notified my supervisor. I was then let go by the end of the week. Clearly there is a lack of communication between HR and the management team. Otherwise the job was decent if you are just looking for temporary work during the holiday season.

I had high hopes when I started at OHL. Shortly after I started my then Lead made an inappropriate comment to me. I reported the comment to upper management, and they addressed it with verbal coaching. Shortly afterwards, he started patronizing me when I would approach him for any assistance. When asked by the manager if I was still having anymore problems, I made him aware of the Leads behavior. He just rolled his eyes and walked away. Shortly afterwards they promoted him to Supervisor. I guess that would be called best business practice.

A typical day would start with a negative shift meeting followed by a bunch of complaints. I found it was best for you not to say anything and just let them hear themselves speak. People here have no self-respect or integrity which leads to their poor work ethics. Expect to clean up spills left in the racks, missing pallets across the warehouse, product put away in the wrong location, trash left strung through the pick-lines and racks, and a bunch of unfinished work from the previous shift.

All these problems led to low-moral, and I don't care attitude. The management team seriously needs to be evaluated they even qualified to be managing anyone. Years of service does not qualify you to manage anyone.

A coworker suffers from a neurological condition that makes him shake uncontrollably. I watch my manager make fun of his condition in the office. It was sad to see someone being made fun of especially by the our manager. I will never take another problem to management again. I could only imagine what he says about you to others. My coworker was so upset. That's what to expect working here. HR is no help either. Reporting a problem to them comes with serious backlash later down the year.

Last and finally is random drug testing. It only works if there's integrity in the supervisor administering the test. Pay him off and your good..

I have worked at Geodis (Bark box location) for about 7 months now as a temp through staffmark. (Direct hire at 420hrs / 3 months of work)

Generally when I look for a job I try to look for something stable, somewhere with a possibility of growth and that’s what I thought Geodis was all about. Giving employees warehouse experience such as labeling product, keeping track of inventory counts, shipping and recieving, possibilities to become Forklift drivers etc. All of the general warehouse basics. 

My first week in Bark box was great i got to learn  all the heavy lifting / most difficult areas that require repetitive movements that can cause back pain, wrist pain etc. 

My second ,third, and forth week I was laid off due to there being no sufficient amount of work to keep TEMPS with low hours in the company.

Once I came back after being laid off for 3 weeks  it was brought to my attention that they needed  Forklift drivers (1-2 yrs of sitdown forklift under my belt)
I asked if i could possibly become a driver as they rarely get laid off as working 1 week-2weeks a month was not going to pay any bills at all!!

I was moved into their “Inbound/recieving team” which yes i was able to work my full 8hrs every day with out being sent home even though the work load was the same as before! So i took this opportunity to learn more about working in the dock side of a warehouse and using my forklift experience unloading trucks and sometimes manually unloading trucks. 

With 700+ hrs (remind you it only take 420 hrs to convert) I became a driver with out driver pay difference is 2$ and some change. Eventually i got Terminated after wanting to become a driver which in my eyes was being fired for wanting growth so if you are looking for a stable job, organized, well managed, possibilities to stay long term THIS IS NOT THE JOB!! 

Management sucks big time they play act like they know things about how to do your job but they have no clue at all they are only good at pushing paperwork and telling lies to there employees they micromanage the employees but they have favorite employees that they that can do whatever they want to do but for the hardworking ones they are all over them like slaves they always want more out of you when new accounts come in they don't want to hire new people they will tell the costumer that they will but they would use the same ones that they have so that they can save money like when I was there I would run several  accounts by myself  but the pay would never change they would send me off to other buildings for months at a time one time I was in a warehouse alone for a month working an account and the ones that they would always favor when the manager would need them to work they would turn them down every time so they would come to the hard working slaves and would ask them to fillin because their favorites would always say no they have this one woman that was making about I would say 20.00 an hour and she would set on her butt all day and talk about everyone in the building even the managers that was letting her do this all day and she could work as many hours she wanted to you could only imagine hour big her checks was every two weeks I mean they would let her work sat some on sun but she would come in at 6 and leave at 8 at night sometimes I mean at one time she would do this for months 20.00 an hour regular time and 30 half time and 40 for double time that's imagine working hours like that for a month every to weeks her checks would be something like 3280 and that's not adding the Sundays with this just bad management

I was promised a 3-11 schedule. Due to running at half capacity, and resignations I would work more 1-1 shifts. Getting out at 11 was more of a blue moon for us and coming 2 hours early was a must. I was dependable and my higher-ups would engage with me and listen to what I had to say which was nice. However, due to the lack of staff, we were constantly put into these last-minute worst-case scenarios that we weren't prepared for.  One guy coming in could make the difference of not getting constant layover orders the rest of the week and getting out around 2 o'clock in the morning. this of course leading to coming in 2 hours early the next day at 1. The staff is excellent but due to the loss of so many employees, I would be put in difficult situations where I would be finished in the account I was hired to, and be then be asked to work more hours to help another account. I was really hopeful when I started because most of the managers are genuinely good people that care, but business can get in the way of that. I was working in total about three days in a 5 day period, (67 hours), and at the end of the day, the money wasn't worth it. If you're the type of person that can do the incredible amount of overtime necessary, this is a great job! But i wouldn't recommend it if you don't already have a full life set up. I would struggle with getting in proper meals, getting enough sleep, or doing anything other than work during my weekdays. The account needs more employees in order for it to be an actual job and not a lifestyle. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Material handler 10 salaries reported	$21.19 per hour
Warehouse worker 140 salaries reported	$19.72 per hour
Customer service representative 61 salaries reported	$19.07 per hour
Operations team leader 35 salaries reported	$21.26 per hour
Senior operator 18 salaries reported	$19.68 per hour

Working at GEODIS: Company Overview and Reviews

GEODIS

GEODIS Ratings

Popular jobs at GEODIS

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected