machine operator

sanitation worker

packager

mechanical technician

Johnsonville

I started work at at Meadow Side Johnsonville plant with a very upbeat attitude. Something new and I was looking forward to working again. The first week you spend on boarding. An introduction to the plant and staff. So far so good. You are told about all of the excellent training and job opportunities that will arise along the way in your career at Johnsonville. I was informed I would be on a 90 day probationary period while I train. For the first month you spend time on dayshift training with peers. There was not much for training. You followed people around all day and listened in on conversations to glean what you could hear. Wearing headphones for your hearing protection and trying to hear any kind of conversation over the intense factory noises was a real challenge from the get-go. After the first week, I realized there was no real curriculum in place for training. You just kind of followed people around as they did their job and you would watch from the sideline and not get too involved.
My job required tools and a toolbox. My job also required a notebook tablet to be able to access business system software. I asked repeatedly when would I receive my toolbox and tablet? We will check on that I was told. Almost 7 weeks in and still no toolbox or tablet. I was still following people around with no real training other than watching them do their jobs. Sure I did learn a few things about the plant, but when it comes to training, there was no plan of attack. I was assigned a trainer at initial on boarding. Unfortunately, in seven weeks, I actually spent 2.5 hours with my personal trainer. I had conversations repeatedly about lack of training and tools to do the job, but nothing was done to rectify the problem. The next work week started and I was thrown into the mix to support the production line. I had no tools and no knowledge of the people that I was just sent to support. I was overwhelmed with confusion at this point and the lack of leadership. After more than one conversation with management, there was still little to no changes in the way I was being neglected for training. I finally walked off line and went in to speak with management one more time. I was told they would be reaching out to me and potentially find another opportunity. I was not looking for another opportunity. I was looking for basic training and the tools to do my job. All along the way while on boarding at Johnsonville I heard that motto! “The Johnsonville Way“ it all sounded so great! What an empty feeling I was left with. I turned in my ID badge and lock out tag out key two days later. It was time to move on. Johnsonville is not the place for me. It sure sounded like a wonderful work environment. The worst work experience ever. I was constantly apologized to for lack of training and tools, but there never was an honest effort made to fix the problem.

Johnsonville is a great place to continue to grow and expand in many areas. Unfortunately they fire as much as they hire. It is a very diverse company, and communication throughout the plant needs to be worked on. Overall I enjoyed my days spent there. Very fast-paced and constant change was the hardest challenge there. Working in the food industry and a cold environment can be difficult at times. The hardest part of my day was not knowing when I would get done ( 2nd shift does not leave until all the meat is produced and packaged). I liked being kept busy, the challenges, and always learning new things. My typical day involved a lot a heavy lifting, and was very fast paced, so my days flew by. I feel I took as much advantage of what I was offered. I gained so many different skills and knowledge that will benefit me for the rest of my life.

Johnsonville is no longer a family company. Profit is number one and members suffer because of this. Tenure no longer matters as you benefit off who you know inside the company especially with the closing of their biggest plant. 

The situation has been handled poorly and shrouded with secrecy. Leadership is not transparent at all and we are constantly lied to about our future, benefits, compensation, severance packages, end dates, etc. 

With positions opening up internally to accommodate for the Meadowside Plant closure. They’ve tried to make these postings as fair as possible. However the members with the advantages are the ones that knows people up in leadership. They get pulled in, we’ve all seen people with 20+ years of experience lose out to guys with less years of experience just because they knew the hiring coach. 

The Johnsonville Way that they preach is no longer a thing. That has died with the owners, Johnsonville is now cut-throat, corporate, and everyone is disposable.

A typical day at work starts with a tail gate meeting where the team addresses the issues from the day and makes  a plan for how we will resolve them on our shift. I usually have a few projects that I am already working on and continue. If there are any controls issues I work on them first.
From when I first started, I have learned how to become a productive and active maintenance technician and then how to become a productive and active controls technician. It has been a great learning opportunity with a completely supportive environment.
The culture at Johnsonville supports building from within very much. I have been very lucky to grow within the Johnsonville environment.
The hardest part of my job is knowing what needs to be done but not having the funding r the time to proceed with them.
The best part of my job is closing a work order for a project that went well and I know is not just complete, but truly successful.

On a typical day of work i would come in ask my supervisor what line or what job does she have for me to do. After im done with that i would put on my ear plugs and enter the floor where i would clock in and get a hair net and then put on my bump cap. i would work for 2 hours and then get a 15 minute break and then after another 2 hour i would get a 30 minute break. sometimes when i would be on break i would hear some asian people complaining about how another person is making fun of how they are talking. Most of my co-workers are fine with me im a quiet person, i come in and come get my job done i leave. The hardest part of my job is when i had to work in the freezer i had to stack up boxes as high as 12 layers up. Most enjoyable part of my job is when i partner up with a friend of mine, time goes much faster. What i learned from my experience is i could use my hand faster then other people.

If you're a dedicated, hard worker you will benefit at this company. The pay and benefits are great, but the work atmosphere is not so much. Everyone works in temperatures between 30-40 degrees at all times on the plant floor, so it's cold all the time. Management is not what it should be AT ALL! Most of the management will have their favorites among the crew, creating chosen people to be outcasts. If you're not a favorite, or you speak the truth, you will achieve nothing with this company. Efficiencies are pushed despite product quality, yet once you go above and beyond the expectation you will be told you need to "slow down" so that the 'new generations' coming in will be able to keep up with changing efficiency rates. And heaven forbid you get injured on the job! You would be immediately down casted throughout the company.

Good pay and benefits. They also have monthly bonuses depending on how well production runs for the month. You also get a discount on their products which is nice. Overall, corporate seems to really care about the workers, but unfortunately the same cannot be said about the team leads that work directly with the workers. Team leads often have favorites and if you aren't one of them be prepared to pick up the slack for the ones that are. Good place to work if you don't have any other future goals for yourself, but if you have plans and want to have a career this is not the place to grow. Also, people love to gossip here. Lots of gossip about people changing positions, moving to different shifts, etc. Really annoying as we are all here to work, not gossip about employees we don't know anything about.

Johnsonville was a safe place to work. We always did stretches before we started work to help loosen muscles to avoid tears, strains, and injuries. Then we would get suited up and grab a hose and other equipment we needed to for work and get started. I learned 
a lot about different types of chemicals such as Neutrals, acids, and alkaline. Management at Johnsonville were called coach's, they are easy going and made time if you needed to talk or had an issue to handle. The workplace was an upbeat, fun, fast-paced work place. until the breaks and after the shift you are always moving and doing something to pass the time. There really wasn't anything that was to hard working as a team made the work experience easier. The most enjoyable part about the job was the workplace I had music to work with, a great team and our coach worked with us.

Work wasn’t too hard but it was frustrating dealing with constant issues from people that weren’t trained and their bosses not training them, even after bringing it to them multiple times. They listen to improvement suggestions for production but there’s ‘never money’ to implement them despite building a new office building with million dollar ‘art’ installations. Overall, the plant I worked at had some great people tethered by old equipment, clueless higher ups and constantly having to ‘make do’ with an old facility that wasn’t suited for the volume they insisted on cramming through it. Pay was good and hours were ok for me but NOT the packaging department on second shift, a lot of weekend work and 10+ hour days due to machine downtime. Most departments work every other weekend and long hours. 

Benefits are great, compensation great, but the philosophy that Ralph Stayer came up with to run his family's business is not followed. He just revamped it and pushed it out, but whereas the team leads were giving it okay time, it was all lip service. Members are not given ownership, not allowed to do anything to fix the problems with the product, quantity over quality, and pounds out the door are very popular phrases. And depending on the plant you are working in, and department, some are the good old boys club(members who have been in the same position for 20+ years and don't think women can do the job). Member services is useless when it comes to bringing complaints of discrimination or unfair treatment to them, and side with team leads. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Otr 18 salaries reported	$100,000 per year
Machine operator 81 salaries reported	$25.38 per hour
Sanitation worker 56 salaries reported	$27.92 per hour
Packager 25 salaries reported	$26.26 per hour
Mechanical technician 52 salaries reported	$38.44 per hour

Working at Johnsonville: Company Overview and Reviews

Johnsonville

Johnsonville Ratings

Popular jobs at Johnsonville

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected