sander

machine operator

material handler

buffer

mill operator

Gibson Inc

Definitely the worst job I've ever had, anyone who ways anything else about this company is a corporate patsy paid to say good things about Henry J, the CEO. I worked there just over 3 years, and in that time no one got a raise, COL or otherwise, but the Mgmt always got a big fat bonus. In my last 2 years we worked all but a handful of Saturdays, and even a few Sundays. Most of us floor workers averaged 60 hrs or more per week, over 70 when we worked a Sunday. I very rarely had a day under 11 hours, with no consideration for my personal life, or my physical and mental well being. There was no option to work any less than the "mandatory overtime". Henry J. would do well to remember what this kind of treatment did to postal workers back in the 80's, and the body count that ensued (no, I am not exaggerating). I was personally nearing the psychological breaking point when I had to quit due to health issues resulting from the inhuman expectations and poor treatment every employee receives.


On top of that, everything everywhere in the company revolves around not making the CEO mad. I was told, verbatim, that "We need to REMOVE our thinking from reality", the implication being that the reality would upset the CEO, and that was not acceptable, therefore reality must not be true.

Benefits were ok, with average medical, below average dental and vision, and sort of an employee purchase program, although the average guitar might cost an employee $1500 at discount price, when it costs the company far less than half of that to produce said instrument.

The processes are extremely archaic, and most have not been updated to prevent employee injury, which is a regular occurence. Also, every position within the company pays in the bottom 10th percentile for that job description. Except, I assume, the CEO.

In all, this company is quite possibly the only place on US soil where you can experience similar working conditions to some Asian sweat shops (or "fine upstanding reputable businesses" as Henry J would call them).

I advanced from a sander,  to a scraper,  to an antique specialist in under three months,  yet was never paid for it.  Your starting pay is $13 per hour,  though with each promotion you are supposed to get your raise.  I would come in,  start up the whole department at 3am,  get everything prepped for the day,  scrape all the guitars that were ready,  and antique all that were ready then inspect all that I could before going home,  taking a nap,  and coming back in in order to finish the antiquing for the day.  Meaning that I antiqued every guitar that passed through the factory.  I also first scraped between 10-20% of the guitars,  and inspected a huge amount of guitars.  Yet I was told that not only was I not doing enough to get my raises,  but that I would not be put on the evening shift that I had applied for.  They will not keep their word,  and will give you the run around until you just up and quit. Most of the managers there are great,  but the two that I would avoid are the front factory lead,  and the top factory manager.  I would also like to mention that if you go in the scraping department you will start to develop tendinitis and arthritis rather quickly.  It was like being in high-school all over again.  No matter how much you do,  all they care about are the hours you put in.  For example,  in an eight hour period I would finish first scraping between 15 and 20 guitars,  where there was another worker who would be lucky to get to eight.  He was praised for staying two extra hours,  but I would go home at my eight hours then come back later in the day to help finish everything,  sometimes adding on an extra 2-6 hours on top of those eight,  just to be told I was not doing enough.

No work life balance at all, 10-12 hour days 5-6 days a week are commonplace.  Lack of communication from upper management to workers on what our daily production number is or anything they are doing to improve the process.  Not uncommon for them to raise the daily number after we've already worked 10+ hours that day.  

We can't hit goal numbers with current practices or staffing but the numbers continue to increase and the days continue to be long.  One manager actually said if quitting made our life better then we should quit.  He also said that production is the priority over the employees, so that was a great way to win people over, especially when they leave for the day 1-2 hours before production is finished.

I wish that management would realize the current way of producing guitars could be better, that previous methods were more efficient, and that there are ways to give people pride in their work rather than the disdain most seem to have right now.  

All that being said, I enjoy working on Gibson guitars.  It's a cool product to be a part of, and a good majority of the other employees are great people that are easy to be friends with and work alongside.  There are definitely worse places to be working, just be prepared to be away from home a lot of the time and not have any evening or Saturday plans because you'll never know how long you're going to be there each day or if you might have to work that weekend.

Trust me, there are plenty of good things I could say about Gibson. Such as they have amazing benefits, a great 401(k) program, a nice little charity that has donated to any of their employees that help with medical bills or rent if they can’t work for some medical reason. It’s nice seeing the artists come in there and getting to meet them. But you will not move from your hired spot for a very long time. Be prepared to learn one position and stay there and good luck moving up. You might learn a new spot if someone is out/they’re understaffed. Everyone who is there leadership wise, has been there for 5-10+ years so it makes it really difficult to move up into a team lead/supervisor/management role. And it’s just because they aren’t really going anywhere anytime soon. I did not feel safe talking to new HR that was hired in 2024. They are also implementing a lot of new robots and machines to “make the jobs safer, quicker, and just as efficiently” but they break down often, break product, or don't produce a result that is within the quality specs. It also forces the person in that spot to move (if they have a position open for them) to be replaced by a machine and takes up a lot of room within the departments. 

While it may be true that the structure and culture of the company has improved since the bankruptcy of 2017, they still have a long way to go building a quality work environment. Very fly by night in terms of how the supply chain works and the amount of hours expected from employees. If you work in final assembly, you WILL work mandatory overtime every week and will have an extra day/overtime hours dropped on you in a moments notice. Up to 12 hr days with day-of notice are not uncommon. Fine for some, but be ready for it. Do not rely on HR or management to give accurate information on hours, bonus, pto, etc. Things change there every day.

Some very skilled employees and people in management seem to be doing the best they can, but the daily number of guitars required by CEO/department heads is not sustainable given how the factory operates as of 2021. Forget luthier work. Think automotive factory, but for guitars. 



I worked at the Memphis plant for a while. You will never know when you will have to work Saturday. Usually this is more often than not. They push numbers instead of quality hoping the end result will meet the bottom line numbers. The masses will come back time and again to buy these guitars because of the name on the headstock. I have deep inside 1st hand knowledge proving that these guitars are anything but quality. Glue joints that have no glue, super glue on top of wood glue when the first glue joint didn't hold, truss rods that aren't even close to centered down the neck, should I go on?? I personally saved this division a pocket full of money with major obstacles I showed them how to overcome, (which they hapi;y implemented) and I was never once rewarded, but on the contrary I was harassed by management and given an abundance of lip service, and unfortunately I cannot go into further detail at the moment.
If you need a job because you are hurting for money, than look to this place as a temp solution. Turn over is off the charts!!

This isn’t a great place to work. If you have a family don’t come here, the over time and the saturdays are becoming ridiculous. There is no work home life balance. You have to work over and come in on Saturday while your supervisor or team leads leaves. They will ask you to come in Saturday and then when you ask “are you gonna be here?” They respond with “no, I’m going camping, or I have plans” but you have to come in. Even though it was there poor leadership or greed that got you in the position of working over. You have a daily number to reach, but even if you hit that number they still expect you to work over. The morale here is the lowest I’ve seen in 10 years and the same with quality. You don’t feel valued and trying to move up the ladder is impossible. The also cap your pay. Once you reach a certain level of skill in your job they stop giving you raises. It’s become a atmosphere of “why try” it’s a shame, this used to be a great place to work. 

A typical day at work involves buffing guitar bodies, installing electronics and hardware, setting up guitars and putting on strings, and fixing any imperfections before they are sent out. The job teaches the basic manufacturing processes for guitar building and uses various hand tools to accomplish the job. The co-workers are the best thing keeping myself there, currently. Turnover is high and the number asked of us everyday keeps going up as new people come in and new people leave. A lot of the equipment seems outdated and steps that could be taken to ease some of the issues with the guitars are neglected. The benefits and pay are great if you stick around, but for most people, the first few 50+ hour work weeks sends them packing.

Gibson is a stressful place to work if you're at their corporate office.  People are fired on an almost daily basis.  They always have empty positions on the management and executive teams.  Hourly workers are pressed to take on more and more work as their co-workers are fired.  The employees at the corporate office haven't had raises, cost of living or otherwise, in over 3 years.  No matching on the 401K or college tuition help even though the company is making plenty of money.  The HR department is a joke.  No diversity program.  Workforce is 95% white between the ages of 30 and 45.  Almost no older workers.  Almost no African American workers.  

If you really want to work for Gibson, go to work at one of the divisions.  Don't work at the corporate headquarters.

Gibson! 😎🎸. If you love music, you are familiar with Gibson Guitar!  While starting a second career, I hoped this would be a good fit since the company is also at a crossroads for a new start. My mindset was definitely too positive for this working environment. Training is non existent and long time co-workers are tight knit and unwilling to transfer knowledge. Very competitive due to cuts and constant changes. Communication, training and respect for lunch/break laws is non existent. Management is constantly changing and the employees are tired and discouraged. If you are willing to train yourself and work through lunch this is a good job for you. Good luck!🍀

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sander 40 salaries reported	$23.66 per hour
Machine operator 19 salaries reported	$23.93 per hour
Material handler 6 salaries reported	$23.17 per hour
Buffer 17 salaries reported	$26.35 per hour
Mill operator 5 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour

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