maintenance technician

production operator

operator

process operator

machine operator

Kerry

:::THE GOOD:::

Excellent pay and benefits. Lower level supervisors were awesome. I was very well treated face-to-face. Close, tight-knit teams made the workflow bearable and everyone helped eachother out. People went out of their way to train me and show me new things when possible. Co-workers were a diverse crowd but generally awesome. Very friendly and decent people.

All positions give you a good amount of independence and responsibility. Your intelligence as a worker is respected if you can show it. Producing specialty products means you get a lot of experience reconfiguring and reassembling different areas of the building. Lots of up and down time so no work day is ever the same. 

:::THE BAD:::

Tonedeaf decisions made by upper management. Completely unsuitable equipment for the task installed in unsuitable locations. Lots of equipment very old and patched together and difficult to keep running. This combined with lack of experienced operators and constant push for numbers despite staffing issues made training on new jobs very difficult and overwhelming. 

Work environment extremely hot and humid in the summer and some products absolutely reek. AC doesn't work and fans are not allowed. You absolutely pour sweat for hours and pace of production means you usually don't have time to get water. Can't even leave for a cigarette on breaks or to cool off.

Swapped us to a new schedule they weren't ready to staff. Several new hires mislead about the hours after they had already switched to the new schedule. Resulted in lots of scheduled and unscheduled 12s to make up coverage. Including occasional 8 hour turnarounds with back-to-back overtime. Days off not regular enough. Felt like they wanted us to live there. Almost no work/life balance for weeks at a time. 

Very physical and fast-paced for certain products which made overtime completely draining. A few positions definitely overworked at times. Some workers breaking down and losing stamina over time. 

I appreciate Kerry for it's flexible work/life balance, generous PTO, Independent work environment and team support. Education is readily available, the culture is generally positive, office environment is professional yet comfortable. The good stuff is great. 

Unfortunately, there are some cons. While change is expected and necessary in all successful companies, some changes feel like red flags.

While their benefits coverage is comparable to all large companies, premiums still increased with spouse coverage specifically being expensive. The addition of things like pet insurance and fad meds don't make up for the premium increases for myself.

Pay planning is a laborious process resulting in a minimal c.o.l. increases despite work output and living up to the core value standards. Bonuses are reserved for higher earners.

There is a sense that the company is not as financially healthy as one would want to see in an employer.  Many visible cuts, including a significant cut in my own hours and a large portion of my job eliminated due to automated functions. I was led to dropping spouse coverage in order to keep my own benefits and I was additionally forced into quick decisions regarding the fate of my position. I was presented with confusing information and the process was unfair.

Despite being a workplace where coworkers are supportive and genuine, beware of the budget cutting. I was proud and very satisfied working for Kerry until I was blindsided by their negative changes that have directly affected my pay, my security and my well-being.


Alott of people came and went in my 4+ years there. Some people I was glad left, because you could tell they did not like the job or care about it. The work itself was very easy. Only hard if you don't understand or went to college.. then you might need to learn alott to catch up from what I notice as I trained new persons that would come. Training the newcomers only to see them leave months later was frustrating, but at least they gave it a shot. The work can get pretty heavy on some days when a lot of orders come in so there might be busier days than others. But hey, at least it keeps us busy. 

Managers ok. They do their job and go home. That's it. Alott of them are very busy so you don't always see them around, especially working in the warehouse then we hardly saw one.

It looks like a typical warehouse so don't be depressed by the appearance of the place on the inside. It's a bit outdated, if you're looking for a high-end quality work-life job, run the other way. This is just a manufacturer place. Also one lab and it is small and has too much equipment they don't have a use for in all my time since I been there some never get used.

Sometimes we needed to do overtime but at least it's paid. Benefits good if you stay to be hired. I liked the benefits alott for retirement. Real good. This the best part actually. Makes it worth it. Sometimes the people have their days so they might be grumpy, but usually they are nice.. and we get holiday parties so sometimes we can go and spend time with them after work and eat food.

In just over 2 years, they're going on the 3rd Plant Manager, 3rd Materials Manager, 4th QA Manager, 2nd EHS Manager. In addition to that, I counted about a half dozen+ Production Supervisors/Managers who came & left in my 2 year stint.  The Warehouse department routinely worked short 1, 2 and sometimes 3 people due to turnover.  There is no HR person on site, and the one assigned to the plant does  does very little for this plant.  Potential employees apply on indeed, but never hear back from Recruiting or HR.  Some folks, actually come to the plant asking why no one's responding back to them on their application.  Good question.    When new hires do get hired and arrive for work, Management never seems to be ready for them.  When I came to Kerry, there was no one to train me.  I had to call IT to setup my laptop on the network and I trained myself.  I have never worked for a more disorganized, dysfunctional organization in my career, yet the HR and Plant Manager  cannot seem to understand why the turnover is so high.  This is stressful job and you get little support.  On  a positive note, the folks working in the plant are great!  They work hard and the plant succeeds because of them in spite of the poor Management.   The pay is below what an experienced Buyer will receive in the Portland Maine area too--especially given the responsibilities of the job.   I would not recommend working there to anyone.  

Its ok, but there was more over time in the past not so much now. The people from corp don't have core program for training, some people get better trying than others. People doing the  training are benefiting from you taking longer or not getting it because then they will have more easier over time. They are currently making it safer for you to work there by putting guide rails along walk ways and harnesses when going up also safety classes and proper manufacturing classes are given (Q.A,PPE,). also they are union so if you want to move around and try to learn other departments the positions first get posted and are given by senioraty. Also before you where able to cash out your vacations , so if you had 3 weeks after 5 years of working there plus sick days (5) you could cash out when it was low overtime season now you can't.  Wish they would have let me gone to school,  you can't work and try to go back to school because if you work shift is from 10pm to 6:20am and they force you 4 hours from 6am to 10am and your class starts at 11am and you show them the paper they will still force you. Or if your class is at 8am they won't force you from 6am to 10am but they will force you from 6pm to 10pm if they have to(before your shift starts). But like I said its ok if you don't want to work weekend or no over time now because there is none other than when people are going on vacation and if you are certified in that position.also they use asp.

I was brought on for second shift, but then I was trained to be a mid shift worker from 11-7 pm to work into a different role without clear knowledge thrown at me. You will have to work very hard, getting dirty with seasoning even in the lab. Lifting heavy objects, getting wet or dirty is a must. You will smell of the plant no matter what. Consistency in what hours you work lacks for most people outside of first. You have to learn quick without much help. It is a lot of organizing, labeling and checking on people with quality issues. People have left the department just in the past year. There aren't many long term employees except the higher ups and a few production workers. I had fun getting to know all my coworkers, but many were unprofessional making jokes. Even management led on it, you definitely need a back bone to work here. I felt uncomfortable many times. HR was not really present for a reason. Management had a real hard time listening. Most techs do not get time to take breaks unless its a slow day. All the QA techs ended up being expected to do 12 hours, 5-6 days a week at points. If I'd suggest anything, I'd really get new management or have more oversight. Leadership is very lacking. I still have contact with old co-workers and consider them friendly though.

A typical day has a lot of down time, allowing employees plenty of free time to do whatever else their life may need, making the pay fairly good, these being one of the few pros. However, once work picks up there often needs to be 3x the QA workers, because of the unbalanced work load. While I was employed there was a large change in product carriers, resulting in over 75% of employees to get laid off, without a days notice. The upper management jumped ship before this happened creating even more of a mess, leaving the lower management to pick up the pieces, resulting in even more unbalanced work loads. The biggest problem for the QA is making mistakes, you spend all day correcting others and fixing problems in the work system, and the minute you make a mistake no matter how trifling, and even if others mistakes influenced this, it will be all your fault. With tens of thousands of dollars in product on the line daily and thousands of customers health, this fear is just not worth the pay and free time to go with it. Lastly the science/technology aspect of this company is extremely low, even degenerative, there's no IT department or actual laboratory skills that are advancing in this job.

My time working at Kerry was reasonably pleasant for an industrial QA Laboratory Tech Position - however it is worth noting that, given the nature of industrial labs, the scientific acumen will be found lacking. Science, with regards to this industry, will likely be much more subjective than many college graduates would like to believe. Management was untoward and critical, and the lab manager was rather Machiavellian in practice. The hours are 12 hour swing shift, and can be somewhat trying. Otherwise, I enjoyed the opportunity to make friends with many excellent coworkers, and further my experience with regards to industrial laboratory practices. Pay is acceptable for a beginning lab tech, though somewhat low for a position that preferers a bachelors degree. Healthcare coverage was typical for the industry; PTO was lacking (use of it was heavily discouraged); and work life balance lent itself more so to work than to life.  This job is what you make of it, and can be a wonderful starter position - however marred the experience may be by lackluster and somewhat unfortunately poor management. The plant as a whole was nice enough, and the workers were wonderful. I enjoyed my time there for what it was, and was glad to move on to better things. 

This facility has undergone many changes in the time I've worked here, but with constant collaboration between different groups in the team and new ingenuity advancements implemented, the team has persevered to help shape a better job culture and truly bring higher quality product to the market. The management wants to see everyone on the team succeed, and are very helpful/friendly in making that happen. A major part of this job is the ability for one to make a difference, and still maintain a balanced work/life, which is quite rewarding. The hardest part of the job will be to overcome spontaneous challenges and issues with unknown solutions, while being diligent in maintaining expectations. From these challenges one can build skills unattainable elsewhere and help shape both the company and ones personal mentality, which can carry on to an array of applications. Currently still employed and still enjoying this job, if you're seeking to learn how to build management, planning, and team skills, this facility will bring a capable workplace and competent culture for doing so.

Schedule is awful for work/life balance. You get 1 weekend off a month. Management is a joke, you cannot in confidence go to any of them to get an issue resolved. I asked for 2 months for my uniform shirts, and continued to ask when I’d receive them as I got my pants but no shirts and was always blown off. The pay is great, and benefits but good luck getting that sign on bonus they offer you unless you track them down and hammer them about it. The turnover rate is terrible and I don’t see it getting solved anytime soon @Kerry Vesper. You are forced to work 12 last minute because someone called in. You’re forced on 12s because they gave to many people vacation and a different shift so you have to cover the gap. One shift gets forced overtime with a statement of “everyone is on mandatory 12s” and then just one shift gets stuck with them. Tread carefully here folks, looks good on indeed and paper but not once you get in the door. The hiring process is a joke, took over a month from phone interview to orientation to get in. The training there need some fundamentals added to it and more consistency. I could continue to go on but I think you’ve got it. 

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Maintenance technician 107 salaries reported	$33.17 per hour
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Process operator 8 salaries reported	$21.44 per hour
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