delivery driver

quality assurance analyst

dismantler

warehouse worker

automotive mechanic

LKQ Corporation

I am going on five years with LKQ and for the most part it's a good company. I have worked at Three different plant locations in the driver capacity and even though the work is hard it really does beat being unemployed.

Starting out it was a great place to work. The Management team I worked for was the best. They were up front with the low pay and the fact that there were no pay increases in the near future. Being unemployed and desperate for a job offering health benefits and paying more than minimum wage I took the job.

The hours were extremely long 12 to 13 hour days. The work was hard but the management was supportive and never complained about overtime. As long as your money was right and the customers didn't complain you are left alone. You also had to show that you were working hard and were not padding your time.

Then the Greenleaf buyout happened. Upper management felt that shutting down the plant I worked at and moving everyone to the Greenleaf location was a better idea. Keep in mind they did this pretty and much told everyone that not only would there be NO raises but no compensation for making our commute from, in my case 8 minutes, to over an hour one way.

On top of that they did not move the management team but left the Greenleaf employees and management in its place. With this in mind, the old "Greenleaf" employees held a great deal of resentment and the management team treated us like second class employees. I ended up quitting on good terms but it was a shame that LKQ lost many good employees who were not only talented at what they did but loyal to the company.

This feeling of animosity still exist at that location today. The plant manager uses company trucks for personal use such as taking his "mud" truck out for weekends. He is allowed to use company resources for his personal use such as replacing a motor in his personal truck, yet employees are hardly given a price break on parts.

With the help of my old management team I have moved to two other LKQ locations and even moved up a bit in the company. The best part of the company is the mobility that they offer. In this harder economic time, finding a job that can just keep you and your family afloat is tough. Trying to do that and stay within a decent commuting range and getting "ok" benefits is even harder. Add on job security without fear of budget cuts and layoffs is close to impossible.

LKQ is FAR from perfect but they have taken care of me and I will not say I bleed LKQ blue but I will not jump ship just because something else "seems" better. In the smaller town I live in jobs like LKQ are a better position in the "private" sector than most. Living in a College town, unless you are working for the University, you are left at the mercy of what is available.

Well, I'm not sure where to start. Compensation got 2 stars only because they are competitive with pay, but they offer no salary increases and benefits are good. I worked for a micromanager so was not allowed to make my job my own. I also had to put up with constant complaining about other employees until the plant manager got tired of listening and fired him or her. As for the plant manager, he doesn't do anything but what his office manager says. All staff walk on eggshells around her because they know once she starts complaining about you,you are gone. They are going to a new process eliminating the functions of my job eventually. They decided to terminate me early. I had taken time off (which they made me use PTO even though I hadn't earned it yet so now I owe them $$) to get teeth pulled and in have no top teeth. Have an appointment in two weeks to get dentures. They wouldn't give me two more weeks, so now I have no insurance and no income to get the dentures. If the management is not worthless because they don't know their jobs, this really makes them worthless. I had a good performance review (not sure why I had one anyways, they don't give raises). I now have to interview for a new job with no top teeth. Awesome. The fact that they couldn't keep me until I got my dentures really shows what kind of people are running the show. Also when they told me they were eliminating my job, the conversation was full of hostility and the slanty-eye look the office manager gives when she disproves of you or something you did. The office manager felt the need to control every aspect: dismantle, warehouse, dispatch, sales, and the managers above her, and they all let her because they don't know their job functions. It's hard working in a place where your boss calls everyone "dumba*$" and talks personal business about employees to anyone that walks by her desk, including vendors! I know way more about my coworkers than I want to. 

No culture, no teamwork, no empathy, no job satisfaction. I was always taught to empower other women, but that's not the case here. And they only hire temps, then they hire them in as permanent, then turn around and let them go shortly thereafter. Very high turnaround. Also they fudge their inventory to make it look like they have more, constantly send out the wrong parts, and what they do send out is junk and comes back anyways. 

Not sure how it is at other LKQ plants, but if you expect to be treated like a human being, stay clear of this one. I listed that I didn't approve of the CEO because I have never met him. When corporate people come in, they don't even take the time to greet any of the employees.

A typical day would be fairly structured with time schedules to keep and quotas to make, but as long as you do what you're supposed to when you're supposed to do it, you shouldn't step on too many toes. It's a pretty laid back atmosphere where most everyone appreciates humor and sees the brighter side of things. I never had any issues with co-workers the entire 5 years I was there save for a few management problems, but these were somewhat easily rectified with a mutual compromise one way or another. I learned everything I know about the automotive recycling business from them. It's an amazingly complicated and logistically challenging business to be in and from what I've seen, and the other similar businesses I have had personal contact with, this is one of the best places in the business. They are an international corporation, and being as such they obviously have the prerequisite "top brass" that has absolutely no idea what's best for the workers, future or the company itself. I met most of the executives for this company and some were just like me, some were bean counters that only cared about the investors and the bottom line, and some were completely hopeless and you had to wonder how they got that far and that successful, but this is all par for the course for any corporate entity such as this. That's why I never held it against the company. I was very happy where I was and after all, what's the point of working somewhere unless you can all gather around the water cooler slinging mud at the execs, right? The people that were my peers were always quick to help any way they could, never afraid to ask questions, and we all felt like a family. Everything else was menial. The hardest part of my job was the fact that I found every time I did good at something, they expected me to do more. They'd pile on more workload, I'd do it, they'd see I was able to handle it, they pile on more, rinse, repeat. It was rather stressful at times, but we all helped each other get through it. The most enjoyable part of the job was the knowledge that I was an important, integral part of what we did. Even if the pencil pushers didn't recognize me, my immediate bosses did. I felt needed and I felt secure. It was the first job in which I felt that way that I've ever had. If you can get your foot in the door I would recommend this company to anyone without hesitation.

This is one of the few companies I have worked for that I am giving a high score to, and I have had a lot of good experience from this job. This will be a rough overview/FAQ - type review, my experience was at LKQ/Keystone in Leominster, Massachusetts.

This job was a well - run balance of work and life by your typical standards of a full time job. $12/hr, 5 days a week, even paid overtime for the weekends at your pay rate. They wanted you there at 0700 hours and would work until 1700 hours, and every day was a new experience. I worked in CORES/Tires, so I got to see quite a bit of the place. Your compensation/benefits are available after a probationary period, as were your days off/paid vacation. 

Job Security was simple: Do what you were told/do the job, adhere to the standards of safety, and no problems. The brilliance in its  simplicity of it was great for a former military man such as myself, and I never felt lost in the directions given to me. On the other end of the things, I also felt pleasantly challenged by the workload,  which was plentiful and ever-present. I cannot speak of Advancement, because I was not there long enough to advance to a position in management or otherwise.

The Management was nothing short of the following; Direct, Concise, and they had no problem with correctly managing problems on-site or reminding us that safety was the priority in the mission. They also demand the best quality their employees can handle.

The Job Culture is mostly Guys, so Ladies might have a harder time fitting into the dismantling culture than other areas like sales or the front counter. This is not sexist in any way, it's just that guys like to joke about inappropriate things, and the Ladies might take offense to some of it.

To summarize:

-Well Balanced
-Long hours offset by a fair wage
-Directive Management without the awful Micromanaging
-Mostly Male-run corporation

Every morning starts at 5:30 am. Drivers come in and verify car parts to be loaded on truck and load the truck. Car parts include anything as small as a fog lamp or window trim to large drivetrain parts such as engines, transmissions, or front and rear axles, and you are given a fifth wheel puller (that is a metal hook about 3 feet long with a handle on one end for those who don't know) to move these parts off your truck throughout the day. Management consistently runs around with no clue of what to do, and if a driver calls in to work you are very likely to get your workload doubled for that day if you come in and show that you are good at what you do, because management has no backup plan to help fill in the holes that are made when a driver calls on or quits (which happens a lot, terrible turnover rate). Nobody wants to stay here to work, very negative environment and no room for moving up. You come in at $12/hr and you will leave at 12/hr. Veteran drivers, who have been there for 5 plus years (there aren't very many of those) are still making the same as when they started. Plus you earn PTO time, that means if you get sick and need to call in just once or twice in a 1 year period then there is no such thing as a week long paid vacation for you, because they take that time you were off and take it out of your vacation. This place may be great for some people but I for one would like to do something with myself and no feel shafted every day at work.

I am not scared to work hard but I feel as though I deserve an opportunity to advance and better myself in one way or another and there is just no room here at LKQ for that.

Management is full of themselves, about themselves and maintain a I can but you can't attitude. Every agreement is verbal, no signing or printing of documentation for your records, so they're able to change what they agree to whenever they want and you have no proof unless you have a witness or lawyer of your own present but even that won't matter to them. Their bonuses is what they care about maintaining, not your safety, hygiene, sanity, etc. Authority is given to those who haven't worked to obtain it and taken from those who have. Hard working means nothing to them as you are just filling a void they may have. Communication is just plain awful. Human Resources (HR) is a joke and not there for you ever. Every one of their own policies they have in place for you, they violate. They lie, cheat, steal from not just you but their vendors as well. A lot of dirt is done under the table and called business which you can't speak on or about. If you think you have a voice, save it for another company as you will be bashed for speaking on things that make your job task completion harder than it should be. This was by far the worst company I've worked for and I've dealt with a lot of things from others but never experienced like this. If you must work here, DON'T, but if, than be a driver not in the warehouse. Not saying it's easier but you have less mess thrown in your face from management on a daily basis. Don't get injured either, workers compensation is a couple months worth obstacle course. I created an entire years worth portfolio on everything, to prove my point for all the things that were unethical, bad for business, and going on everyday yet it meant nothing more to them as me not focusing on my job enough. Not to be or sound unreasonable to others but stay away from here, especially if you're "African American."

I only worked there a few weeks and as a place for a first job, it wasn't that bad. The people are caring and supportive, and are willing to work with their employees to help keep people happy. Any complaints I have are centered around myself and my unique situation, which should not reflect on these people. They are willing to adjust your hours to fit your needs, provide equipment such as back-braces and gloves, and more. One of the most impressive services they provide is taking in suggestions and adding accommodations to improve the comfort and convenience.

With all these positives I must admit this though: This place works as an assembly line, both in the figurative and literal sense. That means you must try to keep up your part in order to progress. You may get lucky with something simple like cleaning threads and ports, but some jobs demand high-levels of multi-tasking to maintain workflow. Not all of them can have their time taken with. I'd imagine most of these jobs require fast-paced effort over a total of 7 hours non-continuously [There being two 15 minute breaks and one 30 minute lunch totaling out to one hour]. Not only is a fast work ethic mostly required, but the ability to meet a high quality level is also heavily desired. If you are unable to meet these types of demands, either wait for the right position to open, talk over it with the employers, or sadly look elsewhere. Also, there are Saturdays that you have to show up on as well

LKQ in Massachusetts is an extremely large operation that employees 100's of well trained, customer service driven professionals. They understand one of the most important possessions a person has is their automobile. When your automobile requires a repair , whether it's your personal vehicle or the company owned vehicle you use to do your job everyday, it is a stressful situation that can become even more difficult when the parts you or your mechanic are depending on to complete the repair are not in the condition you expected. LKQ takes pride in working with you or your mechanic to come to a quick, affordable resolution when unexpected problems occur. Many factors come into play when a used mechanical part fails or doesn't function as expected and many of these problems are unfortunately not within LKQ's control. Often times there are additional new parts and installation procedures that are recommended by LKQ to ensure the used part functions to the best of it's ability. If any or all of these install procedures are not followed closely it is the responsibility of the customer and their mechanic to work out how the repairs can be completed as promised. LKQ provides detailed warranty information as well as install procedures for all of the parts they offer for sale - Used , new OE and remanufactured drive train parts all require a different set of install procedures. When a mechanical problem is reported to the LKQ sales staff they immediately put you or your mechanic in contact with their own ASE certified mechanic. LKQ employees technicians for all vehicle makes and models, including heavy duty trucks. Depending on the reported problem an LKQ master technician is chosen and they will contact you within 3 hours to help diagnose the cause of the problem and determine the best way to complete the repair.

You are a number, and nothing but that. If you don't provide, they will hassle and prod until production goes up or you are finally worked to the point of leaving. Once production goes up, they will add things to your list of duties. No increase in pay for this. Whatever you do will never be enough. As soon as you start meeting the bottom dollar they have set, the rate will increase. This particular building in this company used to do a lot for the employees as far as pot pucks and parties. Used to give out shirts and hoodies at Christmas. Haven't seen any of that in years, the department managers started throwing their own events for their departments because the plant manager is too cheap or has already allocated all of the quarterly funds poorly. Lots of very old equipment to work on or with that has been poorly or rarely serviced. The new building isn't even that old but it has not been PMed or maintained well.  The department managers are some of the best that I have had at comapniesni have worked for. The upper management and pencil pushers that come in and force new ideals and then leave expecting them to "just work out" are poor at their jobs and are far from effective in their function as a whole in the system. Very high turnover rate for a company as big as it is. The people that have stayed for years are becoming weary and worn. They are tiring of constant burnout of trying to play catch up on new poorly trained employees or employees that can't be bothered to show up. Lots of slack left by other employees is expected to be picked up by the few team members that are great at their jobs and already over worked instead of shifting people from other teams or hiring new employees to replace the ones that don't function well in the team.

Work here is very consistent, albeit repetitive. You work 10 hour days with a 4 day work week and occasional half day Fridays with overtime pay. Benefits are good, pay is good (but pretty much the same across all employees regardless of efficiency or ability to work), insurance is good, and vacation time is reasonable. The clock in/out procedure is done on computers on site, but the policy is very heavy handed. You have 3 minutes before the start time to clock in, and if you clock in or out a minute late, even if it's due to lines at the computers or slow loading times, you receive cumulative attendance points that can result in you being fired a month or two later when management notices your points have hit a threshold. If you are punctual the attendance policy generally isn't an issue. Working on a line means you can really only work as fast as everybody else and one person can drag the entire line to a halt.

The downside is toxic coworkers. There is very little comradery between coworkers and the idea that everybody is here to get the job done and get paid seems like a foreign concept to many. The people here are very immature, they gossip, spread rumors, act self entitled, often drag their feet, and are disrespectful towards other cultures and people who aren't from Missouri. Very few of the employees here will bother getting to know someone, and will instead believe whatever they hear about one another. 

Overall it's an okay place to work if you keep to yourself, but would probably be better if you're a local due to the workplace culture.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Delivery driver 2 salaries reported	$19.25 per hour
Quality assurance analyst 131 salaries reported	$33.00 per hour
Dismantler 7 salaries reported	$17.86 per hour
Warehouse worker 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour
Automotive mechanic 3 salaries reported	$23.67 per hour

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