truck driver

forklift operator

operations associate

electrician

laborer

J.R. Simplot Company

Interview went okay.  Interviewer, ( My eventual supervisor ), seemed pleasant enough and gave brief overview of what was to be expected from me.  He even had told me that he wasn't considering anyone else for the position but me because of my vast skill set.  Through the hiring process many simple errors were made which initially raised red flags for me, and delayed my hiring on by 10 days, but I just attributed that to them being either new employees or just very busy.  I was wrong.  After working there for only a couple of weeks I could see that they weren't professional or detailed minded at all.  Most of them just kind of faked it through the day doing their jobs, which in many instances made doing my job frustrating and harder.  I won't go into specific examples, but I can say unequivocally, that my supervisors, of which I had two, were clueless on some really commonsense daily business operations.

Now, wanting to make things work smoother and more efficiently, for everyone involved... especially me.  I approached the supervisor(s) from a professional perspective and made some friendly suggestions.  This didn't sit well with them.  Frankly, I think they felt threatened as weird as that sounds.  And only a month into being there, I was immediately ostracized and labeled as argumentative.  That couldn't be farther from the truth.  So, I backed off suggesting anything, and just let their mistakes happen organically.  I didn't want to rock the boat, so to speak, and I just stayed to myself and just focused on performing my job as proficiently as I could, not question anything, not to make suggestions, and only do exactly as I was asked to.  Crossing all my "T's" and dotting all my "I's", making sure that there could be no way they could question my job performance.  

The real wake-up call came about a month later when I was AMBUSHED, and formally written up in what they call a "Corrective Action Report" for a mistake that the supervisor made.  In that formal write up, he lied and accused me of not only that mistake, but fabricated several other weak instances to try and make the report appear stronger than it actually was.  He used me as a scapegoat!  I was furious!  So I in turn reported this to his supervisor, to give my side of the events, who didn't seem interested at all in what I was telling him.  I couldn't believe it!  

I decided then and there that I would start keeping a daily diary, as well as audio recording every interaction with any supervisors or co workers in an effort to gather evidence to show how I conducted myself, how I was being treated, the incompetent mistakes that were regularly being made, and to protect myself from further false accusations... then take this to the HR Dept.  I gathered 3 1/2 weeks worth, and decided to present it to the HR Dept. in order to clearly show what was going on.  I even wrote a 15 page rebuttal to the bogus "Corrective Action Report".  A week after emailing this report to the HR Dept. and having an hour long discussion with an HR rep., I was put on UNPAID suspension pending possible termination.  In my eyes that is clearly retaliation, and It is clear now that they are covering for each other.  WOW!  That's where I am right now... on suspension.  Not because of under performing in my position, but for reporting their incompetence, their demeaning and verbal abuse towards me, and them purposely creating a hostile work environment against me.

And just in case many of you weren't aware, I have spoken to an attorney who has informed me that verbal demeaning, creating a hostile work environment, and retaliation, are all LEGAL here in TX and other states as well because of something called, "The Right to Work Law", and that unless I can prove I was discriminated against because of race, sex, age, etc., I had no case.  I was blown away to hear this!  So, here I am using my suspension time to apply for other positions at other companies, because after all this, I definitely can't remain here.

so lets start with some basic key info for the job. depending on the job your doing you'll have a different experience. general laborers are the people who get worked the most having done this job ill explain what it's like. so first off gls to put it bluntly are valued as nothing, let me explain why this is. to management gls are a set of hands that can be forced to do what ever they want ether its cleaning shoveling working in pack room peeler room cutting rooms stuff like that they'll usually be assigned a section per night be dragged off of it be expected to do that section and all miscellaneous things the bosses want you to do. this includes and is not limited to shoveling fries, potatoes, hand stacking and working on four sections at a time. i personally had this happen on multiple occasions. there will also be a lot of times were the company machines break down because there run 24/7 minus clean up days once a month. cleaning is the primary job using pressure hoses with scolding hot water and chemicals that can burn your skin off not limited to things like smokehouse. machines breaking down usually happen in packaging which causes serious amounts of hand stacking hours at a lasting the whole night. shaker belts to send the potatoes into halve will break down causing you to push potatoes down a line with a shovel or a paddle personally have done this 5 hours straight non stop no relief while waiting two hours for a mechanic to even show up considering that this type of labor is high stress on the body because your pushing a rapid constant flow of potatoes down a belt you'll find some of their practices questionable considering that the military will stop trainees from doing push ups for less then 40 mins or so in fear of nerve damage. 
that aside they also have a dangerous work environment taking over a week to fix a live wire in there wet room and with the chemicals and fries it can get slippery, there is also constant blockage in there drain pipes that causes flooding so if a create in the floor is open and you cant see it you can snap your leg. they will also say that they have a forty hour a week schedule. this is a lie they will flood you with forced over time so much so that you can get to see only one day a week off 12 hour shifts keep in mind. i worked there for 8 months the turn over rate was very low saw people only stay a month and others a week. packaging is around the same concept over worked but they get to stay in there part of the building 
. i hope that they clean up there act and make a safe and reliable work environment that wont try to work you to the point of exhaustion sickness and other such things. i hope for the people reading this you have a glimpse of what company you want or thought about working for
also they love hiring samali people mostly or just ethnic people in general romur has its for a tax right off i could never confirm that tho but i could confirm the first bit

Pros

1. Working in downtown Boise is great, you are near the river and plenty of great activities.
2. The building itself is new pretty cool to look at, has a cafeteria (although they raised prices by 50% while I was employed)
3. Level 4 employees (Level 5 is management and above) and below are all very nice and helpful
4. Decent pay and benefits, although that's less the case now that more remote work is available.
5. Good work life balance, other than month end you will not likely need to put in any more than 40 hours weeks.

Cons

1. Things can be quite unorganized, the turnover is very high and management is constantly scrambling to get things assigned and reassigned so it never feels like you tasks are set.
2. Moving up is difficult, recruiters and even management like to preach the possibilities but really it'll likely be 4-5 years before you can even dream of moving into management.
3. As stated earlier level 5 and above is management, and level 3 is Senior positions. There are very few level 4 positions and some groups have none so you either have to make a two level jump to management or change groups. Adding more level 4 positions would benefit the company.
4. On that same note I feel they really only care about your experience at Simplot. Anything you did before got you your current position but is now not important.
5. I personally have a CPA which I got while there and no one seemed to care in the least as far as advancement or raises.
6. There's a little of a cult like vibe from the whole place, my first few weeks I'd often hear things like "the family wants this or that," referencing ownership. Was not a fan of that.
7. There are a lot of pointless meetings, some that came up due to COVID but then like COVID never seemed to want to go away.
8. During recruiting they will bring up a "generous" bonus, this bonus is for a fiscal year that ends in August. They will not however pay it out until December 31st, and if you get another job in those four months you lose said bonus. So basically they hold you hostage in your position for 33% of the year, holding it over your head.
9. Job descriptions are purposefully vague to the point that you probably will have no idea what job you are agreeing to take, and little idea of what questions to ask in the interview. Descriptions basically amount to "do accounting things."

Advice to Management

Management needs to take steps to lower turnover. This should start with more transparency in regards to the position and benefits such as the bonus. Many people left while I was employed at Simplot and all were bitter towards management and Simplot as a whole by the end. Just having a big fancy building and name recognition is not enough to continue to attract top level talent or keep it.

I worked with a great group of people. Many of us had been in the same area for 10 or more years. We went through many managers and leadership styles, yet we kept plugging along. We knew what we were doing. It’s a simple process. Lots of little nuances that only experience can teach. My review may seem a little harsh and disgruntled, but if anything it is under exaggerated. We were making the best of outdated equipment. Patching it, and making it work. The managers they brought in were ranged from good to bad. Our plant was an off shoot of the regular processing plant. We were small in comparison to the main plant. While our entire plant was less than 30 people, the main plant had 30 per shift. Whenever we would lose someone, HR drug their feet replacing them. Sometimes, 3 or more months. In one case, we had an operator retire. It took 15 months to replace them. 15 months of overtime. Like alluded to earlier and in my evaluations, management could have cared less in the small potatoes plant, that took what nobody else could use, and made a wholesome food from it. The main thing management was concerned with, was turning a profit with little or no investment. Eventually, they decided to shut the plant down. They offered us jobs far below our experience and capability levels. No severance package, just a take it or leave it ultimatum. Some chose retirement. Some chose to part ways. Some took the jobs, because they had families to feed. Managements words are of; they care for their employees. Their actions are they care more about themselves. Those actions resonate loudly throughout the company. I have nothing to gain from writing this. I am getting paid to go to school. For me it is a blessing. Others, not so much. Many of the people, were not as fortunate. People with mortgages and car payments. People who have kids to feed and send to college. Those don’t show up on a spreadsheet. If it ain’t on a spreadsheet, it doesn’t matter. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed working their. The people I worked with, were the greatest. We had a lot of fun. We accomplished a lot. We kept that plant running far longer than anyone expected.

A typical day at work would be, getting oil readings from storage tanks, checking all line volumes and settings,dealing with employee's and getting them set up to clean there areas as assigned. I work real close with management through the shift with process changes or if we need to take the line down for any amount of time I have a very good relationship with my team for they feel that I'm a good leader and they all follow me because of it, when they do something wrong yes they get in trouble, but also when they do a good job it gets recognized more then none. I have a good relationship with management i feel very respected at Simplot, because I'm a very reliable person who knows the whole process and works very hard in every aspect of my job and the entire plant i know just about every inch of the facility and the equipment in it. The hardest part of my job would have to be being away from home when i work a lot of over time, other than that it would have to be disciplining my fellow co-workers but they understand that as a team leader, that is part of my job and I'm not afraid to write up a co-worker. I am the chairmen of the safety council and play a big part in making work safe for everybody and making equipment safer as well. The most enjoyable things of my job would be getting out and talking to everybody in all different areas of the plant, working with maintenance and helping out when things need to be fixed i love to get involved with everything possible I find it better to be a "Jack of all trades" rather than only knowing one thing. Being a valuable asset to the company is the way to go.

It really depends on the time of year. Normally I would be in a Feed Truck which is a modified 10 wheeler, show up early in the morning 630 am everyday. start up truck check oil tires, boot up laptop in truck, check feed status and work load for the morning. Grab assigned feed from mill drive out to the proper cattle pin and put the feed in the bunks along side the road. There was 3 feedings, you had the morning than right after that they got fed again. If we were caught up with the feeding the drivers and mill workers would brake for lunch but most of the time there would be a number of drivers who wouldn't get a lunch and you would work 12 hours straight no breaks nothing. You could go to the bathroom as needed but the more time out of the truck the less work got done. No over time was ever paid at this job it was all straight pay, even holidays we got only 8 hours added to our pay stub not the for the full time worked that day but if we got out early it was a plus. You worked 7 days in a row before getting 2 days off. The people working there tho all work together to get the work done period. It is diffidently a team environment. You get to operate loaders, tractors, dump trucks, bull dozers scrappers and other equipment as needed by feed lot. The best part is that you don't need to have any experience at all, they will train you on everything and you will have a new idea of what real work is like.

I worked for one of the larger food processing companies, but that is the first time I ever got to meet the CEO of the company. This company provided n inexpensive way to go to work without having to drive. If you lived out of town, you rode a bus into work. I learned to work with speed and accuracy at this company.  There were thousands of dollars in invoices that had to be processed for accounting purposes and sent on to accounting for companies that were nationwide. The work, if not done properly, delayed payment and sometimes the error was most difficult to correct. The managers were there to help you every step of the way and to provide answers for the questions about the invoices.  The people that I worked with were the people in the same department that had similar interests and concerns and we got along as a team very well. The hardest part of the job was sometimes feeling overwhelmed by the vast amount of invoices and wondering if there was ever going to be a respite from having to push so hard. I got to meet the CEO of the company that was so interested in every one of the employees and would talk with us at the holiday breakfasts and lunches that he provided and wanted to be there to get feedback from the employees. People were recognized for years of service and outstanding service.

This is a great place to build a career. Especially if you don’t have a lot of qualifications. You really only need to be a high school graduate or have acquired your GED in order to get hired here. I don’t agree with there point system used to decide whether or not to terminate their employees. Employees are given 8 total points per calendar year before they are let go. Say you got a point on January 1st then you have to wait until the next January 1st for that point to come off your record. Which would accrue .5 points for being less than 2 hours late as long as you called in, .5 points for leaving work less than 2 hours before your shift was scheduled to end, 1 point for an excused absence, 1 point for leaving more than 2 hours prior to the end of your shift, and 1 point for being more than 2 hours late. You could also accrue 4 points at one time if you missed work on a scheduled clean up day. The biggest issue I have with the point system is the potential for employees to be forced to come to work while they are ill. If an employee is at 7 points  and they are sick then they can’t call in to stay home for fear of losing their job, or if your at 4 points and it’s only the 2nd month of the year then you will most likely come to work while you are sick so that your points don’t get too high. I just think that there is probably a better way to manage that aspect of the company. Other than that it’s a great place to work.

Only thing I can say is pay is good; frequently work 7+ days in a row making it for a long week, 12+ hour shifts. Seems that management is out for blood a lot of the time.  Make a simple mistake and your out the door. Would I suggest it, not in the least. 
It is cut throat and most senior management does not care about the workers on the floor.  There are a few senior managers who truly do care as they have the best intentions of the employee in mind, but the bad always out weighs the good.
Even though it is a new plant the maintenance is a joke.  There is a on going joke saying to "Run until its broke". 
Like many have said about plant life, you don't have one outside of the plant. No time to do anything with friends or family.  The processing plants are ran with what seems like a skeleton crew, so as soon as someone from another shift takes vacation/leave there is OT, it seems like it is actually all the time. 
Depending on which part of the plant you work in it is either below 40 all the time, 100 plus and dry or 100 plus and humid.  There is no climate control anywhere in the processing area.
The pay is what attracts most of the individuals to join the company, while it is excellent, you will not have a life outside of the company.  Apply for another company that actually backs their workers and cares about family, Simplot is not that!

Working for Simplot has been a great experience.  They are still privately held and care about their employees.  I feel my voice is heard.  There has been a huge change of management in Moses Lake and the atmospere and overall feel has become a lot better.  There is going to be a lot of good changes here.  The hardest part of my job is working in the plant during the summer.  It can get very hot.  The company does a good job keeping us hydrated.  Another hard part to my job is dealing with co-workers that call in all the time and abuse the company's attendance policy.  Due to their poor work ethic, it creates more work for those that want to provide for their families.  The best part of my job is my Supervisor.  They care, they listen and they do their best to make the shift fun and productive.  Another great opportunity is their educational assistance program.  I am working on my degree right now and am hoping to grow with the company once I have completed it.  I would not have been able to do this without the company's help paying for this.  They care about family.  Working for Simplot is great and I am looking forward to all the opportunities this Company offers.

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