maintenance technician

quality engineer

production supervisor

cnc operator

production worker

GKN Automotive

This place will be your new home address. Forced mandatory overtime every week. Maybe get one weekend day (Saturday) off after working 21 days in a row and then have to work another 21 days in a row before you get another weekend day (Saturday) off. Sundays are always mandatory unless it's around a paid holiday day. If you miss any day you will get 1 point and if you get 7 points you will get fired. You will be here so much that you will be run-ragged. The environment is dirty, the work is heavy, fast paced, difficult and even dangerous at times. The management is highly concerned about quantity output to the point where they have their goals set at an impossible-to-achieve level. This causes the employees to put quantity before quality because everyone is in a hurry trying to reach the goal. I witnessed employees pass bad parts on purpose because of being in a hurry and just not caring anymore. When I asked, most employees say they hate the place and are there just for the money. The trades employees and management are paid a ridiculously disproportionately higher amount of money and they are the only people that I've heard say that they like or love this place. But I've even heard some of them say they hate the place. This place also has a lot of people hired who are very lazy and literally don't do anything other than just show up there and they get paid just for being there. A lot of people hide throughout the place, take long breaks and long restroom breaks and even hang out outside and they get away with it everyday. And people are just hanging out talking for hours on end huddled in groups having conversations that have absolutely nothing to do with work. A lot of the so-called trades people do this everyday and they're getting paid twice as much at the same time. It's awful to see this going on all the time. I even saw people come from different departments and just sit for hours on the floor while not doing anything and management sees them and says absolutely nothing to them about it. The place is a big joke, it's no wonder nothing is getting done like it should be. I could write a bunch more to tell you about this place but I need to move on with my day.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The insurance...currently I have a blue cross blue shield plan for my family and it only costs about $27-28/ week. I looked at some plans outside work and they cost $1200-ish/ month for very similar options to what I have.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Managers get chewed out from higher ups over production goals and then they will chew out operators. Also, the communication within our facility has been very poor from what I can tell and (from aug.2024-now) I personally have not had a working time card in over a month due to whatever company makes them can't program mine to our time clocks. And I have been disputing missing pay (double time hours) since the beginning of December. Personally, I have several things regarding paperwork stuff that has made being employed a nightmare, but I have also seen some people get new badges and have no problems.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Depends on who you work with...if goals are not met you have a bad time from your bosses alk night and information is not always made available in a timely fashion or at all. For example: based on seniority, I got bumped to another department. Ok, fine. However, the day I was supposed to show up nobody worked in that area and so I had to go find my old boss and be put to work that way. Later that night (our last day before xmas, I was clocked out and in my car leaving before a supervisor could text and tell me what day and time to show up for my next shift. Nobody seems to know what was going on....I only found out that I was getting bumped in the first place because another supervisor mentioned it in passing to me. My boss didn't mention it to me.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Clock in, make sure you have safety gear (gasses/ gloves, ect) and go to the start of shift meeting. There you will get a daily assignment, hear if other shifts had problems, and if there is any other news that maybe important. Then its off to your station and don't let there be gaps in your line or bad parts, if you do somebody finds you and gets after you about it...(makes for long and stressful nights) My old department had 3 breaks a night (15, 20, 15min) others do 2 breaks (20/30).

GKN, use to be a pretty good place to work in, 3 years ago, ownership changed, and now this company really suxxx!. First thing first; the place (Plant1) is overall pretty good place to work, climate controlled facility, fast peace environment, nice coworkers (most of them), the job is easy, basically you ll be operating machines through the day, some of them hand loaded, some of them automated loaded machines, they have different departments, generators, soft turning, hard turning, furnaces, pinion grinding, washers, etc. 

The paid is good if you are new hire, you ll start at $19hrs + 1$ premium shift (2nd, 3rd shift), you ll get 1 raise per year (5%) this year, but if you have some years working at this company, you will feel frustrated, since your paid wont differ much from the new hires, lets say you expend 10 years at this company, you ll be making around $22 ($3) more than new hires for 10 years of services, company does not track employee production, (they track group production), se they dont know who is hard worker and who is lazy, but everybody got a 5% raise remember?; now  if you are an ADVANCED OPERATOR, things get worse, you ll be making $20 hour, just $1 more than new hires, and yes ! you ll have to train new employees!, because they dont hire experience operators, why? no one experienced machine operator will work for $19/hour, so the company has a high staff rotation people just come and leave, so sometimes you ll be wasting time training people, who leave the company just days after they started, Benefits overall are good, PTO, VACATION, (80hrs after 90 days, 120 after 3 years, 140 after 5 years of service), 401K, Dental, Medical, Life Insurance, among others. The company has lost a lot of value people, that they never replaced, so they are saving money on wage and salaries, but they dont pay what senior workers, and advanced or experienced workers deserve, Management Suxxx!, they know everything about this and they do nothing to keep value people, but they said they care about their workers, Bullsxx! . So if you are  looking good paid, easy job, climate controlled facility, this is a good opportunity for you, but remember staying for long on this company does not worth, after 1-2 years, you ll see new hires getting same amount of money you are getting. 

Design at American Axle is a great place to work with just about any co-worker or manager eager to work with you. However, this being a rapidly expanding Tier One supplier, expect your workload to fluctuate over the course of a week. It's not unusual for certain tasks to come up suddenly, but if you can stay focused and well-organized, and communicate with managers and project teammates effectively, these can be managed effectively.

The management staff is extremely knowledgeable about their respective programs, and are very easy to work with, as they communicate their intentions clearly and are willing to work with you. They are the definition of good leaders. They will also gladly help guide you towards furthering your knowledge and potential.

The design team is also friendly, highly talented with the ins-and-out of design, and are more than eager to share their knowledge with you.

The workday on the design floor starts at 7am and ends at 3:30pm, yet can be highly accommodating to academic and personal needs. Typically, you will work on part designs for one or two programs, communicating design and drawing changes with the engineers and checkers. Sometimes, you will need to modify and transfer data in PLM, create spreadsheets to study and keep track of various aspects of a product's development, or perform special request work as requested by a manager.

Interning at American Axle was a huge eye-opener for me as a college student. Expect to learn a lot more than you can even imagine in class. You will be introduced to a lot of nuance and various aspects of the design industry that will never be covered in a purely academic setting. If you can keep up with the pace here, you can make it anywhere. This is an excellent place to introduce yourself to design.

All in all, American Axle is a solid work environment with a plethora of employees from different backgrounds. The departments are extremely competitive with not only the manufacturers outside the building but within as well. However, from an honest stand point I can't say American Axle is necessarily the most balanced of workplace. The reoccurring issue of the company is its lack of proper communication channels. This is not a demerit at the establishment, just an observation given the over abundance of office and management positions that have difficulty relating to the working force. Granted communications are trying to be established via multiple attempts, though none seem fruitful at the moment. My typical work day is that of high paced repetitive movement that at times can be a tad overwhelming. This stems from having to perform multiple jobs/tasks to compensate for co-workers whom have slowed down in a way that would effect our daily performance. The problem being is this is now expected of me by my new supervisor whom is my age and lacks experience. I mean no disrespect to him but he lacks both direction and adequate leadership qualities. His inability to assess the situation and react swiftly with decisions and disciplining employment staff that do not meet work expectations greatly hinder my department's overall performance. From a learning point, I now understand manufacturing competition and the many layers of management as well as their interactions. The hardest part of the job would have to be the strenuous hours that sometimes are required to achieve the customer's requirements; Also a 30 minute commune to work is rather vexing in its own right. The most enjoyable part of job was interacting with a lot of interesting individuals and acquiring new working skills. Now mind you, American Axle is by no means a bad company, I merely just speak from personal experience.

I am currently here as a temporary employee, and have only been here for two weeks. This company uses three different staffing services because they can't keep employees in the door very long, and there's some very strong reasons as to why.

First, orientation is a joke as they rush through it with zero preparation and care in only 2 hours. Second, the entire place reeks with the smell of raw sewage due to weeks old coolant in addition to being absolutely dirty and disgusting and covered in grossness. I consistently come home looking like I've crawled out of a cave, and also come home with metal chips in my shoes (I do wear steel toe by the way). Third, the overtime is absolutely LUDICROUS. They are and have been working employees for 19 day stretches for over 8 months, and there's zero forgiveness for that. 

Fourth, the requirements of employees on a daily basis are absolutely ridiculous. They have these thirty-thousand dollar machines that are supposed to take accurate measurements of the pieces you produce, yet these machines do NOT work 50% of the time and you can never locate an engineer or quality team to fix stuff. So you're literally expected to hard gauge nearly every single piece that comes out of the machines...oh yeah, did I mention the machines I've worked on also are down nearly 50% of the time too? Not to mention how even when your pieces are in tolerance apparently that's not good enough and different shifts expect you to make it perfect? Especially with equipment that's broken half of the time?! Seems like a waste of money, time, and production efforts to me! 

The bright side is that if you have absolutely no social life and like making money, this may be a good fit for you. But if you want any sort of life outside of American Axle, I would steer far and clear and go work somewhere else.

American Axle & Manufacturing in Minerva, Ohio is a Company that I love going to work for everyday! I am currently a Journeyman Quality Analyst there and I love my job! 
As far as overtime, there is all the overtime that you want available. Some overtime is mandated if you didn't sign up for the weekends, but you do get days off. I usually work 56 + hours a week which includes some 12 hour days (when required) by my choice to sign up for overtime. 
Our Quality Department is always busy and I love what I do!
Fortunately this is a very busy Company!! You can make a very good living here. Management is very supportive and very helpful to everyone. It is a very clean, climate controlled environment to work in with a lot of great coworkers that are willing to help you. 
They have a great Safety Program which all employees attend Safety Meetings every Monday at the start of their shift. (Safety is #1)
This Company focuses on Safety, Quality and Production.
There is a lot of room for advancement into skilled trade positions which is based on seniority. Some job bids are for Journeyman positions and some are for Apprenticeship positions which are always posted when available.  (Maintenance, Quality Assurance, CNC Tech) 
For Apprenticeship Positions, they will train you on the job as well as send you to School to obtain your Journeyman's Card in the Department that you bid into.
The Medical, Dental, Prescription,Optical Benefits are great at a weekly low cost.

I do not want to work anywhere but at American Axle & Manufacturing in Minerva, Ohio!!!!

If you want an opportunity for a great job and career with a great company, American Axle & Manufacturing is where you need to apply to!

What is the best part of working at the company?
Decent place to work. Poor management and pay is decent for area but not room to exceed or make much more than you start at. Majority of employees have very poor work ethic and the ones who actually work really this isn't for you. The ones who don't work get the benefit of the ones who don't. They expect entirely too much if you really show what you're capable of and definitely don't get compensated for it. Never know your true work schedule depending on which cell or line you're on which is very disappointing if you have kids bc they expect you to drop your plans with literally last minute notice. Highly disappointed employee bc the ones who work get paid practically the same as the ones who get paid to just show up and stand around! Could definitely use much better management and force there rules on everyone. Could go on and on but think that sums it up in a nutshell! Everyone is just a number so therefore the don't mind wasting money to hire new employees instead of compensating the ones who are actually productive and want to excel in the company. This is nothing but the truth. So if you need a job this is definitely somewhere to consider no matter your skill level!


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor communication, pay not basic on skill level and work ethic. People literally get paid to just show up and have there hands in pockets all day/night. Very poor management 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
For the most part pure laziness 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Clock in work while others stand around and joking. Not at all work related. You work other stand and watch.

The people you work with 90% of the time make the job pretty easy. Getting along with co-workers should be easy especially if you are older. Lower level management is usually pretty lenient; they just want you to do your job. Any management above that (which you see maybe once a week) only cares about numbers. Working here as a young person can seem daunting at first since the average seniority is around 25+. The people that work here are tough on the outside but have good intentions: they generally want to see you succeed. Although you can feel pretty comfortable here, at times, you will feel useless. Usually, only you can make the job hard. If you don't talk to anyone or don't get along well, the 10 hour shifts will feel like an eternity. The hardest part of the job is the fact that you are immediately loaded with responsibility depending on who is training you. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, it can be stressful considering there are a lot of quick, important decisions to be made. Once you understand the work flow, objective and how the equipment works, the job is a breeze. To sum it up- Pay is great, work can be a breeze, management is cool (usually), you learn useful skills. However, it's sad to see the lack of maintenance on machinery and the building in general. The system of the company feels static. Although the classes at a community college are a great bonus, they should not be required since they don't seem necessary. I recommend you work here for the money and treat it like a bootcamp to prepare you for any tough work environment. Don't stay forever like everyone else has unless you are already 45.

GKN can be a tough place to work. safety glasses, mask, ear plugs and steel toe shoes required. work on concrete floors with no mats at work area is hard on your feet. GKN is fast paced job with production numbers they expect to be made each hour. GKN is a high turn around employment place to work. they work on a point system of 5 points. once you hit five points they let you go. they tend to look for any little reason to fire people. I have seen many people come and go. I was told they go through 100 employees a month. breaks could be longer. they give two 10 minute breaks and a 30 minute break, which would be ok if the break areas were not so far away.  other than that. GKN can be hard on ones back hands, wrists, and elbows. all in all it was decent place to work. they could work on the air condition and fans to make it cooler. all the fans stay filthy. on average it takes 6-9 months to be hired on permently from temporary worker. pay is decent but raises dont come as it should. its been 2-3 years since last raise was given out. the benefits are good with the exception with medical. both medical plans are a high deductible plans and nothing will be paid untill it is met. not even prescriptions. they will pay for routine stuff like physicals 100% with no deductible. you start with 80 hours of vacation time, 24 hours paid personal time and 16 hours unpaid personal time. Options medical, eye, dental, short term disabiliy, long term disability, life insurance, accident insurance, health savings account, lawyer insurance, identity theft insurance, 401k retirement. all in all I would work for GKN again.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 3 salaries reported	$29.39 per hour
Quality engineer 1 salary reported	$77,500 per year
Production supervisor 1 salary reported	$89,500 per year
Cnc operator 2 salaries reported	$20.25 per hour
Production worker 22 salaries reported	$16.07 per hour

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