production operator

maintenance technician

senior financial analyst

brand manager

r&d engineer

General Mills

General Mills used to be a top place for marketers to work. Due to company struggles and massive layoffs, what remains is a culture of fear in a mature company in serious peril. Turnover within is the highest I've seen in any company. Marketers are extremely unhappy, not just a little discontented or worried. The negativity is warranted and really toxic to be around on a daily basis. The work environment has become hostile, especially toward people lower on the pecking order. GMI is no longer dedicated to training new employees but rather expects you to "fast start" and "learn on the job". If you are hired off-cycle to replace someone who quit, all the worse for you as there is no process at all for these "external hires" as they call them, which is a very illogical title that serves to brand these employees shamefully and never fully integrate them into the system. Managers are intolerant of mistakes, making it difficult/nearly impossible to overcome any negative first impressions. In fact, they do not onboard new marketers at all. There is a two-day training class managed by a central marketing center that you may or may not get in your first months on the job, and that is it. You are on your own to figure the rest out. Your manager will not help you and it is perceived as a sign of weakness to ask for help. Their own jobs are stretched too thin and they are drowning, so why would they bother offering you so much as a life boat.They are super disorganized and don't provide as much as a checklist or bare bones 30/60/90--you make it yourself or never get one. They fundamentally do not understand/believe in the laws of onboarding as described in "The First 90 Days" and other well-documented studies that prove the value of a transition period and process. GMI keeps eliminating so many support jobs each year that you simultaneously have less administrative support and access to your manager, meanwhile everyone who is left has a job stretched so wide and thin as to make it unsustainable. GMI claims to value diversity of background and thought, but are intolerant of out of the box thinking or people who don't fit the mold. The daily grind has become a pageant to impress the Director or "BUD" as they call it. Subordinates are afraid to contradict the all-powerful BUD, and directors will often treat you with favoritism, apathy or shaming depending on how your business is performing. Even if your business is doing well, managers will make a fuss out of "how" you say and do things. If they decide they don't like you, they will throw you under the bus in front of peers and superiors and passive-aggressively sabotage you in the review process. There is no mechanism for AMMs to provide feedback on their managers, or on anyone for that matter. The very non-transparent HR feedback systems are set up for everyone to secretly review the AMM, but not the reverse. This is not the case in other companies and it contributes to the hostile environment aforementioned. Marketers are constantly looking over their shoulder in fear, pointing blame at other people when things to wrong, and unwilling to offer help/support to newbies. In sum, this is the worst environment I have ever worked for and I would not recommend it to marketers.

Directors and Sr Managers pick favorites. They don't address bullying. Some Directors and VPs don't think policies apply to them, and yet they still get promoted. Promotions are based on who you know and how you network, how engaged you get with all the company activities, committees and clubs (often in your own spare time), more than how well you do the job. There are exceptional performing employees who get the lowest pay rates, just because the company can get away with it. They have lost some great employees because of this. They are snobby about where you have your degree. What college you got your degree at (i.e. Carlson School of Management at U of MN, Harvard, Notre Dame, etc. Very difficult if you don't have a fancy degree. State colleges are rarely considered. Be careful about what job you are hired into. If you are thinking of just getting your foot in the door at a lower level job, that is not advised. They will pigeon hole you into that level/job type, and makes it extremely difficult to rise above that. Also frequent layoffs, and constant reorganizing and job eliminations in small doses. Never know when you'll be next. And they outsource a lot of those jobs (IT, Administrative jobs, sales jobs, data processing, etc.) to India and other countries that can pay employees pennies vs dollars for doing the job. Which has also caused a lot of issues with processes and miscommunications due to the time zone, cultural and language barriers. The pay is not competitive, it is just average. They rely on their reputation as a prideful Fortune 500 and local company, so people feel honored and like its such a big deal to work there (bragging rights to say you work there), so they can get away with just average salaries. Not the General Mills that is used to be, the culture has greatly changed in the last 10+ years and a lot of employees live in fear of losing their jobs. On top of that employees are doing the work of 2 or 3 people, since they are always laying people off or eliminating jobs. Employees work a lot of extra hours, and it is justified because of the flexible work arrangements, and flexible schedules. You may leave an hour or two early for your kid's softball game, but you'll be working for a few hours at night and on weekends to make up for it and then some. Its frowned upon if you don't have your work email linked to your personal cell phone (which you do not get any reimbursement for).

They have good benefits and are fairly family friendly. Have competitive maternity/paternity leave benefits (about 5 months paid maternity leave, and 3 months paid paternity leave). Competitive vacation leave (3 weeks starting, and goes up from there fairly quickly). okay sick leave (2 weeks) - Its all use it or lose it each year. Most managers are supportive of a flexible work arrangement or working from home, but not all managers. Its really just a gamble. Some managers are really nit-picky with it and not as flexible. Medical benefits are very average, premium costs are high, with high deductible plans, like a lot of other companies. They used to have more options to choose from, but cut back on that a few years ago.

I came into the job with trepidation as other factory jobs had not worked for me. I was told I would have 90 days to learn the job (pretty standard) , but was being pressured after two weeks or less to speed up my pace and perform better. I do have motor skill issues with my hands and hand eye coordination. I don’t like to mention this unless it becomes necessary so I never list disability on my application. Once I mentioned this issue there were no accommodations made except an offer to switch trainers (to someone who would have been harder and more intimidating) . An offer was made to switch departments but nothing was made definite. People talked behind my back about my work speed which filtered back to me through the only two people who tried to support and encourage me. 
They have a metal detector that scan the products as they go down the line. I was certified on the system, but a minor fault with the system was blamed on me. I had to go through the stress of recertification and the issue was exposed to the rest of the team so I was made to look bad among my coworkers. It came down to a two week ultimatum for improvement (still within the 90 days) with the consequence being the threat of my job. I decided it wasn’t worth it as it was causing me anxiety. Keep in mind that I had achieved enough competency to run a machine by myself and had no issue while doing so. But since I wasn’t able to learn in less than a month, they pressured me. I started as a temporary employee. My first assignment was to scrape packed down cheese off the floor with a putty knife duck taped onto the end of a broom handle for my entire 8-12 hour shift. Then they let me learn how to assist in the bulk catching area and how to clean the upstairs bulk area. I was complemented on my performance as a temp employee by both coworkers and managers. I was complemented on my proficiency on running a machine eventually but by that time I was already in the transition to a different company. There was another employee who came onto my team who had autism and other issues. He ended up quitting shortly after I left. I understand his quitting as they were talking behind his back and basically doing the same things to him as they did to me. As I mentioned, I was complemented on my performance in the bulk area. That is where I spent most of my time as a temp, but instead of leaving me where I was comfortable and achieving, they insisted on moving me. 
Another issue I experienced was off color joking and inappropriate conversation in mixed company. I expected the senior team leaders to quell the behavior but they instead took part in it. I understand that factories are often not the most professional places but I still mistakenly believed that my immediate supervisors would demonstrate more professionalism . Pay at the time was 19/hr which is pretty good for the area, but not worth the stress.   I don’t know about other GM plants, but if you have any kind of cognitive or motor skill issues or any way feel like you can’t learn a job completely in less than a month, do yourself a favor and stay away from the Wellston location 

Worked at General Mills for 7 years. They preach how big they are on safety and how " were one team that works together" I can tell you that's far from true. You have hourly employees on the floor and salary as in management. Management dont like to be told how to do their job. If you raise concerns about safety concerns or improvements it's one ear out the other. If you push the agenda to try and make it to what they preach about daily on safety and keep mentioning those concerns they will look for ways to get you out the door. You have team leads and leads out there whom team leads are part of the salary family and instead of them leading by example and being out on the floor they are in their office 90% of the time, at least on 2nd shift and nights. Yet will be first to criticize you on your job performance when they have not a clue what is even going on or how hard alot of the jobs are since they decided to eliminate some adding more tasks to jobs in the areas. Leads job title is considered working leads as in they help out if needed but that never happens. They rather do nothing even if it means someone having to do extra work. Hourly has been working 13 days on and 1 day off for the last 2 years while management gets guaranteed weekends regardless. I've been gone from that place for 3 months now and my family has noticed I'm more happier then when I was working there. Since my departure 3 months ago they have fired 4 people and 2 quit just in the department I was in. The turn around is bad and main reason MANAGEMENT. I'd recommend looking for a differnt job atleast in the hannibal missouri area unless you like to work with poor management, working nights most likely what you'll get but possibly 2nd. Therefore be tired all of the time, only get 2 days off a month and on nights do sanitation where you take apart equipment to rinse, foam and rerinse the last 2 hours of your shift. Which sanitation at one point in time was an entire shift (3rd) but now expect you to do it in two hours. You will leave soaked from water and sweat. In some areas especially in the summer will leave with your face red from being so hot from the temp and having to rush to clean that you're heart and temples will be pounding finding yourself out of breath at times.

[This review only applies to the "Skilled Operator" position. Not a "Class C" position, temp job, or a management job.]

Pay is excellent. New skilled operators start at around $23.60/hour (slightly more/less depending on shift/department). Pay gradually moves up to about $31/hour over 4 years.

All hours worked on Sunday are paid at a 2x rate, and all hours worked on Saturday are paid at a 1.5x rate. It's usually possible to make $2,000/week (pretax) if you work all the weekend overtime available.

Benefits are excellent. Health insurance is good, and costs about $15/week. Dental/Vision too. If you contribute 8% of your paycheck to the 401(k), they'll effectively match it (technically, they'll match 6% and give an end-of-year 401(k) bonus of 2%+).

Lots of people complain about the hours. They expect workers to work about 70%-90% of the weekends, and if you have plans, it's often difficult to get a specific weekend off. It's also difficult to get weekdays off, unless you use your vacation days (21 days/year), and lots of people burn through those quickly. Management is promising to solve this problem with a new work system, but I don't know if they'll be successful.

Most of the time, you'll just have to work your own 8-hour shift. There are opportunities to turn those into 12-hour shifts, especially on the weekends. Occasionally, people are required to work those extra 4 hours.

It's (now) a Union plant, and if you don't have any attendance issues, it's hard to get fired or laid off. Job security is excellent. I could tell some crazy stories about behaviors that employees have gotten away with. Though they DEFINITELY fire people for attendance issues, and their attendance policy is not forgiving.

Since 1st Shift is the desirable bid jobs, any new person will have to work on 2nd or 3rd Shift for years before transferring to 1st Shift (currently, the 1st Shift employees with the lowest seniority have about 5-8 years with the company, depending on their department). 
Management is very absent, and the workers are very autonomous, especially on 2nd and 3rd Shifts.

I had a few problems with General Mills. First they will lowball you on your level and pay making it seem like you can move up very quickly. They don’t do any review of your actual worker or productivity. Everything is based on these massive tests and videos that you have to complete in order to get $1.50 raise. There are at least 150 questions and a whole bunch of videos that you have to watch in order to move up. Plus they make maintenance due PowerPoint presentations? They make that part of your moving up in levels and paid. They are the most woke company I have ever worked for. I’m all for treating everyone fairly, but this company rammed it down your throat. Next, I would say this is not a normal maintenance technician job. I’ve worked for other big food companies and this place is strange. They do not run their maintenance department like a normal maintenance department. The manager and the leads have very little if any maintenance experience. They run their maintenance department like it’s part of production, if you have maintenance experience, you know what I mean. Just very disappointed in General Mills. They care more about how much you small talk and joke and laugh with managers and leads than they do about how well you do your job. It’s more of a popularity contest than it is actually being a good maintenance technician. The main reason I took, the job was because of the original schedule, but all of a sudden, because some people complain they changed the schedule so then I was stuck with the schedule I didn’t want. If a couple people complain about something here or I should say the right couple of people complain about something they will change everything for those people no matter how it affects the rest of the people there. Personally, if you’re over 25yrs old this probably isn’t the place for you.

Overall, it is not a bad place to work. The pay is pretty decent and benefits are cheap due to the plant being unionized. All inclusive benefits are $33/week for medical, vision, and dental. You get 12 paid holidays (you'll probably have to work 4 of them)

The downfall is you have to work a full year before receiving any vacation time (NO PTO system) and on one side of the plant you work 7 days a week with no days off. 

The company is so proud to say they put employees and people FIRST, but that's only for PR. When our union contract renewed they only gave us a 3% raise, and we fought to get there. We did not even see a $1 raise for any positions. They gave us sick time, but took away half the points system for attendance, and then manipulate the system to their liking.

Management is the most disorganized I have EVER seen in a Fortune 500 company. I really don't know how the plant profits. Management plays the favoritism and political correctness games.

 If you are a minority you are protected from discipline. You are untouchable. No matter if there are 10 people against you for your wrongdoing, you will win. Their investigation practices are done by a biased woke corporate employee, not investigated at a local level. (Local HR plays on their phone for the 3 days they actually make it into work) 

For any wrongdoing, you paint a target on your back, and management constantly watches you waiting for your next time to slip up. Their discipline system is all inclusive, a verbal, then warning, then suspension, then termination. Whether you have job performance issues or altercations with a coworker, they stack up for discipline with the same outcome. 



All in all, I would give this place a 2/10. That's only because of the pay and cheap but good benefits. The rest of the areas need DRASTIC improvement if corporate really wants to advertise they put people first. 



In the 2.8 years that I worked at Yoplait, I learned almost 40 jobs. I greatly enjoyed being able to learn so much in such a short amount of time. At the time, I thought it was a good way to get job security. A typical day for me was getting to work, getting the janitor keys and the janitor cart, and getting any supplies that I may need on my cart, if I didn't stock it the night before. I would start with cleaning the women's locker room/bathroom. This would include the toilets, taking out trash, cleaning the sinks and mirrors, restocking paper products, sweeping and mopping the floors. Next I would clean the men's downstairs locker room/bathroom, doing exactly what I did in the women's room. Following that, I would ususally head to the second floor and clean the men's room on that floor. Next I would unlock, one by one, the office doors on that floor and take out the trash (every night), and vacuum the floors twice a week. Next I would sweep and mop the upstairs hallway. After I finished that, I would go back downstairs, put my cart away, and sweep and mop, vacuum the rugs, and take out the four trash bags located in the hallway. I also had to restock the hairnets, beard nets, and earplugs located in the hallway. Next I would go onto the main floor and check the paper towel holders and soap dispensers located throughout the plant and replace what was needed. Then I would clean the single bathroom located in milk receiving and the single bathroom located above Go-Gurt, and take out the office trash for this location as well. Finally I would restock my janitor cart, maybe clean the hallway windows if I had time, or sweep the stairway leading to the cafeteria, or clean the elevator. At the end of the night, I would return my keys to the scheduler, and do it all over again the next night. This is the last position that I held at Yoplait, and probably my favorite as well.

My work day begins at 6:00 in the morning and ends at 2:30 in the afternoon. During this time I'm usually opening boxes or moving cans  to be placed on pallets. I'm constantly on my feet, and carrying product distances up to 20ft. 

The Management here is poor at lower levels. My Lead has a poor understanding of English, and I had to learn most of my duties through a co-worker. When I was hired I was told to show up on Monday at 6:00 am, and that was the extent of my orientaion. I was told nothing of when I would get off, or when my breaks were, or even what exactly it was that the company did. 

My co-workers are friendly, though its difficult to communicate with them because they only speak Spanish, and I only speak English. I've asked on of my bilingual co-workers to teach me enough Spanish to be able to get through the day, and have been able to communicate with them using simple, direct statements. When they speak to me I can usually understand what they want me to do through my reasoning skills.

The hardest part of this job has been an inability to communicate effectively with my co-workers. When they do something wrong, I usually just correct it and physically show them the correct way to perform their duties, but this can sometimes take up to 10 minutes. I am currently working on my Spanish to be able to communicate more effectively with them.

The most enjoyable part of the job would have to be the monthly grab bags. Many products arrive or become damaged at our warehouse due to accidents, so the company allows each employee to take the damaged products home with them for personal use once a month. This means that I take home free cereal, protien bars, chips, soups, baking supplies, and fruit snacks each month. Free food is a definite plus in a minimum wage job.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best thing about General mills is once you get in there you can achieve alot more because now you're in the door, and the opportunities to grow is right there in your face. Machine operator, forklift operator, inspector position, maintenance technician, who knows you may be able to apply for a supervisor position, and the money is good. Elite staffing is paying $18.50. If you get with the company you'll be making more. And the work is real simple, all you have to do is show up on time and stack your paper. GOOD LUCK 🤞 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Depending on where you will work in the factory, if it's hot outside add about 15 degrees hotter. But they have alot of fans, so drink alot of water and Gatorade because short pants is not acceptable. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Pretty laid-back people are friendly and helpful I didn't know nothing when I walked in the door, but in about two weeks they were asking me to train a new person. It kinda made me feel good about what I was there for. They recognize a good worker.  Remember if a machine breaks down, grab a broom because it's always something to sweep up and it makes you look busy. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It's so simple a child could do it if they were tall enough. What could be so hard about putting bags of chips in a box, the machines are doing most of the work.  Let me tell you a typical day there for me was gratefulness, I felt so good about having something to do everyday and I do mean everyday, I worked seven days a week for about two months and that was because I asked for it. I even got an award for great attendance and raffle tickets and tickets to summerfest. So be on time cause they notice.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production operator 6 salaries reported	$21.52 per hour
Maintenance technician 7 salaries reported	$30.97 per hour
Senior financial analyst 3 salaries reported	$98,975 per year
Brand manager 5 salaries reported	$127,100 per year
R&d engineer 6 salaries reported	$95,358 per year

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