maintenance mechanic

senior analyst

production lead

analyst

manager

Hostess Brands

if you were a new employee, you are part of a union and the newest employees are treated completely unfairly. You are expected and required to work at least one 16 hour shift every single Friday when the plant shuts down for the weekend. The only time you don’t have to do this is on mandatory weekends where you have to work at least 14 days straight without a day off and then you must end that streak with a 16 hour cleaning shift. this is because you are a new employee, and at the bottom of seniority, you will work several different stations, and each week you will train on a different part of the assembly line. This is because you don’t have a specific job, they teach you everything in the department so that you can fill in when somebody doesn’t show up. Also, because of seniority you will not get to choose which job you get assigned to do, and if your relief doesn’t show up, then you will have the choice to stay for eight hours, or it will be marked against your attendance if you refuse. You will get a call with a few minutes left in your shift that your relief called in and they will “ask” you to stay for another shift, knowing that you will gain attendance points if you say no. Also, you are not allowed to have your phone on your person at any time during the shift, and if your family needs to reach you, they have to call and go through the intercom system. They have an overtime “wheel” with everybody’s names on it, which is supposed to make it fair so that forced overtime only goes
to the next person above you, if you already stayed once that week, but they did not use it, and they repeatedly would ask the same people to stay, regardless, if they already worked one or two or three double shifts that week, and this isn’t counting the mandatory Friday double shift that is just clean up. if you want to work here, you will earn good money, but you will never be able to have any semblance of a life. 

I had the privilege of working at The J.M. Smucker Company, first as a Senior Packaging Engineer and later as a Packaging Manager. My time there was both professionally rewarding and foundational to my growth as a technical and people leader. Smucker fosters a culture rooted in strong values, accountability, and respect for people. There is a genuine commitment to doing the right thing for consumers, customers, and employees. That values-driven environment creates a sense of ownership and pride in the work, especially when supporting iconic brands with long-standing heritage and consumer trust.

From a packaging standpoint, the organization offers robust technical challenges and meaningful scope. I had the opportunity to lead complex initiatives across cost optimization, material transitions, innovation launches, and plant implementation. The cross-functional collaboration between R&D, Operations, Procurement, Marketing, and Quality was a key strength, enabling well-rounded decision-making and successful commercialization. After being promoted into a Packaging Manager role allowed me to expand into people development and strategic planning. Smucker supports leadership growth and encourages managers to build strong teams, develop talent, and drive continuous improvement. The transition from individual contributor to leader was both supported and empowering.
Overall, my experience at Smucker strengthened my technical depth, broadened my business acumen, and reinforced the importance of values-based leadership. I’m appreciative of the opportunities, the mentorship, and the relationships built during my time there.

Hostess Brands was a brand that has been around for a long time and loved by it's customers. Knowing I would be working for a company who had such Iconic brands was an honor itself. I myself worked at the Drakes facility where only all Drakes products were produced with the exception of the Twinkies. Job experienced was fun although I worked alot of hours and 6 days a week the extra day being without pay because we had a higher turnover rate then one would expect especially for salaried personnel. That I'm sure due to the fact that out of the 5yrs I've been with the company we filed for bankruptcy twice. That being the case we still had alot of Great people working for the company who really wanted to assist in things changing for the better and getting Hostess back to its once Powerhouse self of a company. I learned alot about working with what you have to work with and in tough times as we've experienced that you reallly must learn how to manage. Co-workers were good people who've been with the company for years so they brought alot of knowledge to the table in which I learned a great deal from. Toughest part of the job was wanting to do more and even striving to do more but at times fell short because lack of funds or personnel. Although working for a company who is in bankruptcy is not always pleasant I did enjoy coming to work pulling together with my employees and still succeeding and accomplishing goals in which the company would've excused us for if we didn't just because they new the adversity we were up against. With the proper upper Managemnet, direction and funding the company could have been 10 times as better then we were but it tought me alot, met alot of Great people and got to contribute to putting household name products I grew up on onto the shelves of so many stores.

I am a fairly new employee at JM Smuckers, I have been with the company for approx 6 months. JM smuckers is roundly the best job I have ever held personally in terms of the pay, management and the facility at large. They are exponentially more generous in regards to the facility itself as well as myself as an employee(s) . I love the position I fell into and there is or would be ample opportunity for one to pursue more money or advancement here in Bloomsburg if you should choose so. As an employee here you will experience much less supervision from authority figures than is typical, the environment is incredibly relaxed for a manufacturing facility and it never seems crowded or hurried here. The main break room is nice enough to be at a large tech company and I make more money than I have by a significant margin than at any of my other union manufacturing jobs in the immediate area. When I offered a position here I had herd all of the typical rumors about the state of affairs here, non of them have panned out to be anywhere near the truth including the alleged insane amounts of OT. If you have been in a manufacturing position before and are offered a position at JM smuckers it would be a foolish decision to squander it if you are truly looking to facilitate advancement in your life, because that opportunity is here. Above all else the annual gross income and work environment are simply greater than the other equitable options in the area, however you may be required to be present 7 days some weeks.

a typical day at work I enjoyed it was my exercise. I enjoyed my co workers I enjoyed my work I felt productive. What I learned was work can be hard or enjoyable a positive attitude and good morale can make your day much easier work is like a second home and family to me because it`s part of your daily routine so you get out of it what you put in it in my opinion. Management in my opinion kind of went down hill once most the supervisors retired that were there when I started they had years of experience the supervisors we had my last 5 years there came and went like every year some terminated some quit they didn`t seem to care about the company and some their ego`s got in the way they made bad decisions and you could see the company going down hill kind of heart breaking when you care about your work.co-workers for the most part I enjoyed I just didn`t let anyone steal my joy or ruin my day that was in a bad mood some people don`t know how to separate their personal problems from work but when you see people everyday like family you know when their not in a great mood . I just avoid them if I`m working with them I just do my part and let them go through their moment and don`t bother them. the hardest part of the job would be if something was broke down like a machine then you have to hump a little harder and faster but stuff happens and you`ll get through the day. The most enjoyable part of the job was you know your going to get paid for it and you could take care of home and your family.

A typical day was spent on the road selling product to various accounts. We were allowed/required to set our own start times and plan our days to meet our customers needs. We had total control over inventory, sales and ordering product as we determined, based on our own market analysis and experience.

I learned to work independently, with little or no supervision and to be extremely efficient with my time and work methods. I also learned the value of quality customer service and establishing and maintaining good relationships with my customers.

I had excellent relationships with my managers and supervisors and my co-workers were a dedicated group, most of which had been with the company for many years and I formed many close friendships.

The hardest part of the job was dealing with corporate mandates and decisions that negatively effected my sales and my customers.

The most enjoyable part of my job was being recognized as a top performer and the friendly competition between salesmen. I enjoyed the freedom and independence I had to work as best as I saw fit to maximize my sales, with great results. I also formed many long term friendships with customers and other vendors and enjoyed the daily interactions with them.

Mostly I truly enjoy working for smuckers, I like management especially upper management they are very approachable, and they not only listen but act on ideas if they are good and appropriate. The real problem I have is with the work schedule, the 2 2 3 schedule is great whether working nights or days, the Bad is that you have to rotate every 2 weeks so you don't really have half the year off as they state during orientation, because you spend at least 1 of the 2 or 3 days off you have to sleep and recover from the rotation from nights to days. Also this is not healthy or in my opinion safe because most people are sleep deprived because of the rotation. If we worked straight days or nights with a 2 2 3 schedule and a little boost in pay for the people on the production floor who are the ones truly creating the wealth for the company this would be a dream job. But with the rotation many find it unhealthy and difficult to do and which is what I believe is the sole reason for their high turnover rate. It can be a really fun place to work because of the people and culture. And I appreciate the respect from most of the management team. I would continue to work there the rest of my working days if they would just get rid of the rotation from nights to days every 2 weeks.

When a individual is hired they are promised a 24/7 12 hour rotation.  (This is not something that exist here and it's far from that).

Starting rate for mechanics is not what is advertised, it's actually 1.5$ less .

The work environment / atmosphere is a constant circus.  Upper management gives directions that are irrational and have very little thought put into them. 

You are treated great if you can get into the clicks with management and supervisors.  If you're not a part of that click you're treated like garbage and harassed with no acknowledgement by your superior (s) even if these actions are witnessed.  

This facility is short staffed and has a extremely high turn over rate.  So expect to work 12 hour days every day of the week for at least 2 years.   

Human resources will smile and be super friendly to you in person and then talk nonsense behind your back.  Most grievances that are filed never get completed.  

There are at least 10 project engineers who say they can fix issues and nothing ever gets done by them. They take on too many projects at once and forget the first one they started.  

There is absolutely no room for advancement unless you are in that click I referred to earlier.  


Over all, if you're single and want to work long hours to save money (short-term) I'd recommend just for that 
If you have a family, I would never suggest working for this company.

They fire people out of the blue, raises are completely out of the question other than “cost of living” raises”, management is a joke and has absolutely zero direction. Most of the managers are worthless and do basically nothing all day. If you want to move up you have to be friends with the manager of the department you’re moving to or in some cases you have to be a specific race to move up. Any sort of punishments/write-ups are on the basis of whether or not they like you, your skin tone, and whether they feel like it. The operations managers don’t know anything about eh systems, all they do is either sleep in the office on the weekends, talk to the supervisors and leads for hours at a time (about non work related things), read emails, or watch the cameras for fun. Everybody is two faced willing to turn their back on you at the drop of a hat. Working in kitting means you’re willing to stand on your feet for 8-12 hours a day for usually at least 6 days a week while being yelled at by leads who don’t do anything but stand there and watch. Human Resources are the most useless people you will ever meet. They don’t know 90% of the company policies, they’re not up to date on changes, they mess with your pay all the time, and vacation time/sick time rarely gets put in on time. The only good thing about working here is the pay (kind of), and the benefits are good.

Hostess brands filed bankruptcy and since has decided to cut our already underpaid pay and benefits only if the union ok's it. However, if they don't ok it, it looks like Hostess will be closing its doors. The amount of hours I work daily compared to the pay is rediculous. I am overworked and underpaid. I do like the concept of my job; being responsible for me and training others, as well as the customer service side of the job. I enjoy my customers, co workers and being able to self manage. The hardest part of the job is knowing that I may not have one at anytime due to the bankruptcy. The most enjoyable part is dealing with my customers and creating business relationships. My typical day consists of getting to work by 3 am and loading my truck properly. I then start my route and stock shelves and make displays. I then take all day old product out of the stores (which is usually too much because management ups all of my orders to meet thier quota for thier bonuses, and making my pay lower) I then come back to the shop by no earlier then 2 pm. and do paperwork and orders for about an hour. My daily hours are usually between 12-15 hours a day, my pay does NOT reflect in how many hours I work. I do like my boss and feel he genuinely likes me as an employee, my co-workers are great as well. I have learned not to take a job if there is any rumor of bankruptcy!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance mechanic 2 salaries reported	$37.49 per hour
Senior analyst 5 salaries reported	$75,200 per year
Production lead 5 salaries reported	$34.00 per hour
Analyst 3 salaries reported	$70,333 per year
Manager 3 salaries reported	$118,333 per year

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