utility operator

industrial mechanic

entry level machine operator

control panel technician

utility worker

Idaho Forest Group

This company treats you like you are garbage! They start lying to you about the schedule and hours you will work from the start. 
This company posts a holiday schedule and then 2 weeks before the holiday they tell you that you must work it.
 They cancel your planned vacations that they previously approved.
 Everything is a bait and switch.
The medical benefits aren't very good. Always short staffed, the turn over rate is off the chart, so they want you to dedicate all your life to working for them, 12-14 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week. Constantly changing your schedule.
If you complain about the hours or schedule they fire you and fabricate the reasons for your termination.
 Very arrogant culture led by a core group that moved down here from Idaho with the company.
I have never seen so many yes men and sycophants put in lead and supervisory positions that aren't qualified to manage a road-side lemonade stand.
This is a company half staffed by weasels.
 By far the worst management I have ever had the displeasure of working for.
 If you need money and don't have a family or life, you enjoy being treated like dirt, this may be a good fit for you.

This place has absolutely no idea how to run a company!! They literally just pick random employees that are nothing but YES men (KISS A**) with basically no experience in the field and make them supervisors. You ask any of the high ups what’s the plans for future improvements to better yourself as an employee, they will all give you the same answer, “ mm I don’t know”. They ask you to do the job of a tech 3 or 4 but want to keep you at a tech 1 entry level and then get confused when you tell them “ No, I’m not doing that”. Literally at one point that made me take over a guys position that they were paying $7 more than me. And when I asked if I could get a little bit of pay raise for taking over a whole another technicians job THAT WAS MAKING $7 MORE THAN ME, they said “No, it’s doesn’t work like that”.I’ve work for a couple different companies but this one is by far the most ignorant and idiotic one I’ll probably ever work for. The supervisor and managers only care about themselves and hitting their number by any means necessary. They do not care about compensating you or helping you as an employee. You are just another number to them. So if you like being miserable while working for a company this place is PERFECT for you! 
 

Idaho Forest Group's main focus was to do your job safely.  We had weekly safety meetings and discussions on how to make our jobs safer.  From that I have very highly motivated to do my job as safe and efficient as possible.

For a majority of the time I worked there our family time was sacrificed for work, however, we were rewarded from the company for all the time they asked out of us.  IFG was appreciative to their employees for what they put into the job.  

While at IFG I did learn a lot about working with employees and managers with a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses.  I learned how to cope and overcome with someone who has a personality that does not match well with my own.

The hardest part of the job was not the job itself.  Instead, the hardest part of the job would be the days were my shift would pull a double and everyone would just be irritable.  Those days would be where you really had to know how to deal with people at their worst.  On the other hand, the best part of working there was the pay.  In my small community IFG was one of the top 3 companies that paid as well as it did.

Since I have been working here I’ve had no chance to progress. A typical day of work includes me waking up at 4 A.M. just to come to work and be miserable all day. Then I leave at 5-6 PM just to go home and sleep so I can get caught up to be back here again the next day. I have only learned my position because my management doesn’t want me to learn anything. I am a floating body and a number, we try to speak up for our teams but nothing changes. They just take from us. The most enjoyable part of the job is when I finally get to go home and see my family for two hours. My mental health has truly declined. It is sad to say the only thing I enjoy about being here is they have a store where I can get food on days that I am so drained I forget my lunch. There is no true training, I can’t speak for other mill locations but for Lumberton this is my experience. 

 The work is fairly safe and manageable, advancement is up to you. 

 The management close to the hourly employees is fair and understanding in most instances but the upper management team is disconnected and does not consider the people, completely lacking in American values and culture.

 The hardest part of the job is putting up with the unreasonable demands regarding your health and personal choices. 

 I truly enjoyed my work and the folks I spent time with but this company does not allow you to be an individual and is willing to sacrifice your employment for an easy path under our current administration.  


The new Lumberton sawmill is a great place to work. The pay is above average and provides a good living allowing you to stay close to home instead of traveling or working away. The facility is not your typical labor intensive sawmill - there is alot of new technology. Working here has provided an opportunity most don't get to be a part of in their careers. We are writing the policy and learning through trial and error. We are establishing the foundation that will be built on, and most with a negative view don't belong in that kind of environment. Those individuals perform better in established structure and that's ok - but for those wanting to be part of a team, solution driven and not afraid of learning through trial and error, this is the place - this is the opportunity!

Went through two plant managers while I was there. The management needs work on the shipping side. The work was easy, the pay was okay. My problem was they brought guys off the street making what I was making two years seniority. All I got to say is be prepared for your schedule to change regularly. Also, when winter comes around and the market slows down they look for reasons to fire you and threaten your job treat you like you're expendable cuttin hours. No matter how hard you work there is no moving up at least on the shipping side. The owner is a down to earth guy and the company is good with potential to grow but the management is an absolute joke the company is only good as the management it doesn't matter if you have all star employees with bad management it will not succeed.

The problem here, point blank, is the management. Specifially, from the Plant manager down. With no training here you're basically out on your own. If you want a promotional raise, good luck with that! I truly believe that people are stuck here because of benefits and pay (which are decent). This place would be the best place to work if we actually had communication. I don't know the last time we actually had a group meeting or any kind of meeting with the Operations manager. The leaders here are too afraid to say anything to anyone and when it blows up in their face they get to pointing fingers. At the end of the day there's no teamwork and if you're not in the management "Click" then good luck! 

They follow the "policies" to the letter. So if your not on time or you make mistakes they record all transgression for future reference.  However in my department at least the management is the best I've ever worked with; they are involved, helpfull, knowledge full and very understanding and kind. The pay here is amazing at an entry level and moving up its easy to make $18-25 an hour. For a job with no degree thats not manual labor, its rather good. 

The benifits however are pretty poor the 401k is set up on a 2065 and its not the best. And insurance is expensive.

Management sets up the employees to fail. They want the employees to run All the equipment in the entire mill by moving them to different positions.  You can never get good at one job before they accuse you of a mistake and they write you up for just a scratch on your arm. I had caught management in lies many times. Pretty sad.  
I did what I could for them but inevitably I was terminated. I didn't even have time to learn the last position I was put in.  I learned a lot daily and enjoyed the challenge.  I felt bad for the team as it was my turn to go. They now have room for the new kid that belongs to aa very long time employee. They had to make room for him somewhere.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Utility operator 7 salaries reported	$19.16 per hour
Industrial mechanic 2 salaries reported	$25.32 per hour
Entry level machine operator 2 salaries reported	$16.92 per hour
Control panel technician 2 salaries reported	$32.99 per hour
Utility worker 1 salary reported	$23.69 per hour

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