machine operator

maintenance mechanic

specialist

chemical operator

senior process engineer

Heraeus

Typical work day would be arriving at scheduled time with five minutes to get where your scheduled to be. Scolding will occur if breaks/lunches are too long unless you are part of management or the "clique".  A company ran by a group of young people who do not look your way or stop to see how you are doing unless upper management is in the same room and they want to make themselves look like they care.  More worried about what the building looks like instead of the vibe given by those who work in the building.  Just because a house has a white picket fence around it, does not mean its the perfect living situation - that is Heraeus Conshohocken in a nut shell.  The hardest part of the job is being there; the seldom smiles and conversations make the day drag on and on.  There is no morale or excitement anymore - everything they did for their employees at one time has been taken away; down to the hot chocolate.  The most enjoyable part of the job is clocking out at the end of the day.

Working as a smelter operator offers a uniquely stable and high-impact career path for those who thrive in industrial environments. At its core, this role is essential to the global economy, as smelter operators are responsible for the vital process of extracting refined metals from ore, providing the raw materials necessary for construction, technology, and manufacturing. Beyond the professional purpose, the position typically offers competitive compensation packages, including premium pay for shift work and robust benefits often associated with heavy industry. The work environment demands high levels of technical skill and strict adherence to safety protocols, fostering a disciplined mindset and a strong sense of camaraderie among team members. Furthermore, as industries increasingly adopt advanced automation and sustainable practices, operators have the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge technology, ensuring that their skillset remains relevant and highly valuable in a rapidly evolving industrial landscape.

For day to day activities it can get monotonous but very manageable. The coworkers there have a strong diversity and for the most part, those working in the lab get along, but there is a tension between the scientists reporting to global management, and the rest that report to local management as the former can ask for unreasonable work or get past mandated lab shut downs, causing a sense of cultural divide that can get depressing for those trying to maintain the labs and safety procedures. 
Management has recently changed locally and globally and due to the recent political climate and a heavy tariff, technicians can watch as global management threatens to close the site within a year and local management either leaves or tries to keep the place together. 
Safety is heavily talked about but due to a particular individual, any enforcement from management is hypocritical since they  refused to fire this individualafter countless safety violations

Heraeus was an excellent company when I first started working for them. They believed in promoting within and developing teams. HR dept. was always willing to help. The last 3 yrs of my employment the company brought on new management and HR personnel. You no longer had a name just an employee number. Our turn over rate increased to 200%, customer complaints increase and management only cares about how they can throw around their power. Safety and Quality was no longer number one just mass production. Unsafe working environments. Employees were treated like garbage and they no longer believed in promoting within. The team culture changed from team work to a cut throat culture. They expected single operator to run production in 2 to 3 different production areas, which use to be a three person process.  negative atmosphere. Management and HR do not care for the employees, employees are constantly threaten with their job.,  Would not recommend this place for employment.

Since joining Heraeus, it was common place to watch people who had joined before you leave if they were technicians but also higher ranking scientists and management would leave at unprecedented times, leaving the structure of the site feeling volatile. 
Typical work would span a week. Batch and mill pastes or paste vehicle, prints, analyze results, rinse and repeat. 
Enforcement of safety was split. Managers would ask EHS to dictate safety guidelines without understanding how the equipment worked and most technicians would follow those guidelines, but when certain lab workers ignored or bypassed those guidelines repeatedly, no serious repercussions would follow from management. Seeing as the site was the product of two merged sites, one from singapore, one from germany, both merging in PA, there was severe cultural splits at times that were hard to look past

Where do I begin? First off, you literally receive little to no training at all. You may be smart at what you do, but you'll get in trouble if you don't dumb yourself down to the point where you need to satisfy the lead or floor manager that someone is "showing" you something. Although there is some perks of working here, most of them are minute and not that great. They claim to have a team environment, when in-fact it's everyone back stabbing everyone else. Also, if you enjoy a place that chooses to have and support favoritism towards their employees than this is the place for you. If you're not liked, you will be ousted and eventually fired or not wanting to work there anymore.


I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

Currently I work as a Sales Assistant/Customer Service representative for the Regional Sales Manager. A typical work day for me begins with checking my emails for customer's order request, inventory updates from vendors, checking stock and fulfilling orders. While working at my organization, I have learned how to be a self starter and stay organized. My manager allows me to grow as an individual while providing precise direction and sales expertise. The hardest part of my job is managing inventory with three international vendors within our organization. This involves obtaining logistics cost (sea and air), weight, manufacturing lead time and shipping times. The most enjoyable part of my job is being able to handle multiple task at once. I enjoy learning different aspects of the job and being cross-trained in different departments.

A company filled with wonderful employees who treat each other like they would their own family and friends.  Positive work environment, support managers and team.

Unfortunately, all business decisions and general company direction headed up from Germany by a team of executives who rarely travel to regions outside of their own.  Decisions are made without proper context or seeming long term vision, only what works for Germany. 

Without strong regional leadership, business units flounder and scramble to adjust to German policies that do not translate to local cultures.  Often time leads to more adversity than success.

I worked at Heraeus Quartzglas for about a year before being recruited away to another company. I worked with some of the most intelligent people in my career and was treated with the utmost respect in every way.  The management and co-workers were outstanding and benefits were superior to most other US employers. Being a German based company, they take enormous pride in treating their employees as much more than just a number and make you feel like family.  You actually feel good about going to work each day! The only downside was that they're in the very cyclical semiconductor business and were too heavily dependent on one large customer.  Even so, they would do everything possible before resorting to layoffs.  I would not hesitate to work for them again.

I loved going into work since I never knew what the day had in store for me. As a technician each day was filled with equipment maintenance, product improvement, R&D projects, and any number of surprises. 
My managers were almost exclusively hands off, we would touch base informally in passing and would occasionally schedule sit down meetings to catch up.
My co-workers were of the highest caliber even during the darkest of days moving our equipment and jobs to Asia the quality of work was unequalled and the mood seldom shaken.
the hardest part of my job was leaving the work at work and not bringing it home. I loved all the technology and problem solving.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Machine operator 5 salaries reported	$23.08 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 2 salaries reported	$60,460 per year
Specialist 5 salaries reported	$79,299 per year
Chemical operator 7 salaries reported	$24.41 per hour
Senior process engineer 8 salaries reported	$97,313 per year

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