forklift operator

material handler

bindery operator

packer

press operator

Lakeside Book Company

It does not matter how hard you work at Phoenix Color, your contribution will be unappreciated and unrewarded. After enough time, you will no longer care about putting in your best effort because it simply doesn't matter to anyone.

You are discouraged from trying to learn anything beyond your specified role, and no one else will be trained to do your job either. You are merely expected to come in every day to do that function and no other, resulting in a completely stagnant and boring work environment. Taking any time off simply ensures that you will spend the last day of your vacation dreading what you will walk into when you return.

Most managers lack any of the skills needed to build and inspire a successful team, and as a result most of the employees feel rudderless. Communication is poor not only between but within departments. The company claims a lot of practices that they do not actually follow, such as Lean and Green. I have never seen a facility work so hard to do the exact opposite of what they preach.

The company as a whole seems to be focused on doing everything in the laziest way possible, and has no interest in improving themselves in any way that would better manage productivity or resources, which would certainly be more profitable. This seems to stem from a reluctance to actually hold anyone accountable for anything, so poor performance just continues ad nauseum. 

Several different changes in ownership over the years have done very little to make any improvements, and certainly nothing of any significance.

You cannot complain to HR about anything -- unless you want everyone in the company to know about the issue while nothing is done about it.

Wages are good, but they come at such a price that you start to wonder what you can live without, just so you can afford to leave.

After working here for over a year now, I’ve watched countless people come and go. At the beginning of the week, the cafeteria is half full of new hires. Let’s say 15 people start indoctrination on a Monday. By Friday, half will quit. The other half will be lucky to make it to next Friday. We consider ourselves lucky if at least one sticks around longer. The starting positions are very labor intensive and is best suited for younger people. For the 40 and over crowd, expect a lot of muscle strains and aches. Better stay hydrated! If you can become an operator in The bindery or press room the physical burden will decrease but the headaches can increase depending on the machine. Recently, overtime in the press room has become mandatory due employee shortages for summer vacation and machine maintenance. It’s not a matter of if you want to work overtime, but what days. If you don’t volunteer, you’ll be told when depending on your skill set. Keep in mind that each shift is 12 hours and overtime is already baked into your regular working hours. As for the press room you will flip from days to nights every two weeks. It’s rough. Especially if you have kids…….and those kids are on summer vacation. People still love books, so your job is secure as long as you can handle the stress and schedule. The machines constantly malfunction and it takes time to learn how to keep them going. Tribal knowledge runs deep and not every older operator is willing to share what they know freely. Your training time will be brief no matter what you do because they are willing to take chances on mistakes being made in order to get the product out the door. Top reasons for being fired will be total negligence or failing to comply with the attendance policy, which is pretty strict.

It used to be an awesome place to work.  Used to have a spectacular workplace culture with a strong sense of comradery where you could tell the people in charge not only wanted you to do well but actually genuinely cared for you.  Unfortunately this is all past tense.  In all honesty the place is falling apart. They like to talk a big game and pretend they care about people but their actions say otherwise.  It seems like they are slowly trying to get rid the assistant positions (the only position between gen labor and machine operators) in favor of filling the empty spots with gen labor a lower paying position to save a few dollars. This does 2 things. It takes advantage of the gen labor employees by pushing as many of the assistant responsibilities as they can onto them despite paying them less and stresses their operators by pushing the remaining responsibilities onto the operators on top of their own. It's worth noting that these significant changes in labor do not reflect on their expectations of the operators. They want them to give additional responsibilities without impacting production. Oh and when things inevitably reach a breaking point they like to act as if they had no idea that anything was ever wrong. A few months back at their monthly production meeting the vp of production was going through usual generic production stuff said something about needing more people. Went on to tell us the turnover rate for our plant is over 90%. Said they didn't understand why and how it's such a good place to work. Yeah that really only served to show just how detached from the reality of the production floor he is.  There's a reason for the 90% turnover rate. 

Promotions are based on the friends and family system and not job qualifications. As one supervisor told me "It doesn't matter if you are the most qualified person for the job; all that matters is that you are the person they like." It all comes down to the interview and those on the friends and family system are coached on the winning answers in advance. However, if a person does succeed in moving up without being anointed as the chosen one they will have an extremely difficult time learning their job and should expect to receive a crew consisting of only the people no other operator wants. There is a Bridge to Skills program, but there is no consistency on training.

Full time people get a raw deal on wages because of salary compression. They are paying new people almost as much as experienced people because of a labor shortage. At one time I found out that while I was expected to train new help on an almost daily basis because I really knew my job and was good at training that I was only making three cents an hour more than the people I was training.

The material handlers rotate on jobs in bindery on first shift but not on other shifts. Some people will arrive an hour early to assure that they get the easiest job for the full 8 to 12 hour shift on 2nd and 3rd shifts. The company has a high turnover rate among the people who get stuck on the bad jobs everyday. These are typically people who can't arrive early because of family obligations or a long commute. They also seem to be the people who develope chronic aches and pains or who get injured more easily. The company could remedy this situation but won't because the people who typically get only the easy jobs know how to cause problems.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people are cool and helpful, I’ve been there 8 months and been promoted twice, if you show up and do the work you can advance very quickly and they have a variety of schedules to fit anyone’s needs. The pay is competitive and most of the jobs are very easy to learn and do.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Learning the computer system is a bit stressful simply because it’s a dos based (old schools text based) system. Hopefully they will make it a graphical user interface system at some point. Some positions are fast paced as well which I like because the hours go by quickly but this can be stressful for others. My advice is hang in there for at least 3-4 weeks and you will make it. Your first few weeks are going to be a challenge when learning certain high turnover positions.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
My experience has been excellent. You will run into an occasional toxic person who is disgruntled for whatever reason, generally people who have been there a long time, but just avoid them and you’re good.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My job is awesome, I now drive a fork truck all day and I love it. It’s like playing a video game to me and I would do it for free! It’s very therapeutic to me and this is the first time in my life where I’ve had a job that I actually look forward to going to.

By first remembering, that this is a Company, and is there to make a monetary profit for the owners, you will recognize, that what the company offers in return, is quite generous. Plenty of days off if that is what you're looking for, and also plenty of overtime if that is your preference.  Advancement in position and pay is easily achievable, if you are willing to apply yourself and learn the required skills.  It is a 12 hour rotating shift schedule.  If that doesn't seem desirable, don't apply for manufacturing positions. This is a big company with lots of different people.  Some people anywhere you will work are great coworkers and others are not . It is no different in that way at Lakeside. The Supervisors are very knowledgeable, and they are willing to help you develop within the company. They are more than willing to help manage home/work life balance as long as the requests are valid and reasonable. The management seems somewhat disconnected from the rest of the employees, but they are knowledgeable and competent. Overall it is an even paced work day, with some periods being very fast paced, and others being very slow paced.  Lakeside is a strong 4 star employer. 

Management only seems to care about what will make them more money. Are more worried about getting people in the door rather than keeping the people they have. Many loyal employees have left, due to new hires starting off making just as much for someone who’s been in the same position for 10+ years who have been refused raises. Horrible turnover rate. Which leaves loyal employees to do their job and others. They will keep anyone. Even if it makes for a hostile work environment. New hires can literally refuse to work and we dare not say anything to run them off. Work hours are inconsistent which makes for a horrible family/work balance. Never know what shift we’re going to be on or what hours we’re going to work. Just depends on what’s more convenient for management at the time. If you have kids this isn’t the place for you. If you want a life at all, this isn’t the place for you. If you're a yes man who loves to be lied to, and likes going above and beyond for nothing in return, besides more of a work load. This is the place for you! 

The overall day to day job isn't too hard just overwhelming at first as any job is. However the high ups tend to keep changing your job daily without even knowing how to do your job. When presented with "opportunity" to be promoted their interview questions/ system is terrible. And all they look at for promotion is time being there and not actual knowledge of position or how good of a worker you are. I have asked numerous times for any form of help in crewing, shift change, and even as simple as log in information for work based sites and my payroll and they will never get you an answer and avoid you. They will promote someone else and tell you sorry and have you train them for the spot after they have chosen the "best option." And they cant figure out what they want out of performance be it numbers, quality, or teamwork. Overall this is a dying industry and terrible work life and terrible management to get "help" from.

Don't bother with this company. I was with them for a total of 5 years. From 2018-2021, I was there through Fulfillment Specialist of America in the Returns department. That was great, fun, and engaging. In October of 2021, I was hired on to Lakeside for a clerk position, and within a year, I was demoted for not "making rate, and too many accidents on the machines". Also, not given the correct information on remaining vacation days. I was told one thing, then came the paycheck, I was shorted because they denied my vacation even though it was approved by the supervisor. When I resigned, they denied me the rest of my vacation pay. If you are not "buddy-buddy" with the supervisor or coordinator, then they make it hard for you even think about working there. The attitude that coworkers had toward each other/the work even sucks. The only enjoyable thing about this job is that you can take your breaks outside if you want. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Going home after every single shift.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor management.
Favoritism from management if your female and flirtatious.
Did I mention management yet?
Sinking ship that's replacing workstaff with immigrants.
I could write a book on their horrible business ethics. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Arrive 15 minutes early to discuss the problems the day shift had and joke about how nothing got done to rectify said problems. 
Clock in and feel immediate regret.
Try to salvage my dignity and get something done. 
Contemplate going home for the next 11.5 hrs of my shift.
Dayshift shows up 2 minutes before clocking out. Wish them luck.
Clock out and escape for a few hours before ultimately sacrificing my dignity and going back for another shift.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Forklift operator 91 salaries reported	$19.65 per hour
Material handler 84 salaries reported	$18.16 per hour
Bindery operator 81 salaries reported	$25.66 per hour
Packer 43 salaries reported	$17.29 per hour
Press operator 50 salaries reported	$28.07 per hour

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