Messer Construction

Will discuss negatives first covering aspects of operations. You have to know how to play the game, volunteering seems like the right thing to do, but could lead to demise. There are so many good people that work for this company, but it is overshadowed by the few that are considered cancer by some, watching them slip through cracks. The company is very "cliquish", behind your back conversations are constant, good employees have left or been removed due to hidden agendas. People that are loyal sometimes find themselves on the outside looking in and have been replaced. IT issues with their internal construction management system were constant and program changes were frequent, one jobsite could be using one program while another used a different. Review process is laughable, it's only your IDP plan in terms of ink on a piece of paper. It's a safe place to work, but there has been turnover in that department in recent years, changing the guard from those who cared to those who are peaking around every corner. Promotion priorities are granted to those willing to relocate. Lengthy temporary assignments outside your office/region is sometimes only option. 

The positives, steady work, high profile projects with higher education institutions, healthcare facilities, and public infrastructure. Turnover in operations is low, the company completes self-performance work for multiple areas, they attract good subcontractors. Most of the senior leaders whether it be regional or corporate level are wonderful, supportive, and allow you to make decisions. You can achieve a work life balance. 100% employee owned ESOP company vested after 3 years. It's a good place to build your career out of college or continue from another company, given the right region, if you are willing to relocate, you will climb the ladder quickly. Compensation raises were consistent. IT is competent and responsive. Labor force brings in quality employees. Good benefits package. Per diem adequate for out of town assignments.

Although a job with possible potential as an employee it has been my expierience that I have been told only what they think I want to hear and not the truth. To me a company that does that would not be loyal to its employee therefore I find it hard to call it home. The company does not have a handbook for the employee to read so that we are aware of the rules and policies. The company does not have a redily available HR department so it requires contacting at least 3 or 4 people and you are still not sure if what you needed was even taken care of. The company lacks communication from management to the craft force. Some employees are aloud to miss work with no dicipline while others get diciplined. Those that do show up for work have to carry their work load as well as the undependable employees. Some employees are aloud to continually do inferior work then are moved to another job and good quality workers have to do their work as well as fix what was aloud to take place prior. It is a large general contractor which seems to do well but their self performance section needs a serious overhaul by people that have been in the construction business actually working. At this time the most enjoyable part of my job is that my work has been noticed by the company in which we are building a job for and that they have requested me to stay on this job until its coompletion. I enjoy doing my job in a way that the customer actually appreciates and is happy with the product we provide.

I'd still be there if I wasn't greedy and expectated advancement. This company is a great company to work for. The people are skilled, the jobs are well run, management for the most part are competent and very receptive to ever changing safety practices. Wish I could go back, but I burnt that bridge. It truly is a moment of I wish I had the last six months of my career with them back, things would have been different. Hard to find employment in construction safety in Cincinnati that doesn't have Messer influence. Employees are genuine people, young, talented and trained to provide excellent service to the company and to the owners they build for. Great experience I thoroughly enjoyed, and in retrospect, i would have done things much differently than I did before leaving.

I was a Messer Hourly employee for 7 years. This is my experience from a seasoned professional point of view working the latter years of my career. 

I worked as a certified heavy equipment operator foreman, carpenter foreman, tradesman instructor. 

Managers are climbing the corporate ladder and the sub-contractors and hourly employees are pawns in their pursuits. The junior managers are fresh out of school and think they are professionals. 

If you're graduating from engineering school and want to kiss the butts of the upper-level managers, you may have a future. 

If you're a professional tradesman and want a paycheck, it could work for you. 

If you're a novice wanting to learn a facet of the construction industry, it could work for you.

If you're a seasoned professional looking to advance your career don't waste your time. 

They will chew you up and spit you out in their pursuits. 

There are better choices in the construction market today!

Hope this helps you with your decision.

First off when i got hired i had no construction experience and they told us as a group we were going to be in an apprenticeship for 4 years and we will be certified carpenters. Instead they sent me 100 miles away to push a broom i quickly realized i was just a body for a clean up crew. Then i saw the o  all had parents at messer and so guys like me were screwed and then it was the broom the whole time so there going to keep you on clean up forever. I worked in my hometown cincinnati for only 2 months for almost the entire 2 years i worked there and i got ripped off over 60 hours in that 2 months and never got my money i swear to you! They have more backstabers than a prison and i been there 2. I'm thankful im no longer with this company and i have come a long way since.if i had been there i still wouldn't know nothing, I'd make 2$20 less a hr with a joke of a retirement plan.

I enjoy working construction and networking with the sub-contractors and management personnel. It is a physical and mental challenge on a daily basis, and helps me push my limits of my comfort zone, and gives me a greater vision to see outside the box. Messer Construction has been a great experience both professionally and personally. It has been a great building block in all aspects of my life. Being in construction comes with traveling and extra expenses for hotel stays when on the road, tools and parking. And being a single mother, I am looking for a little more stability and better benefits for a secure future for my child and myself.

Management gets praised for everything field employees do. Benefits are there but they get more and more expensive every year. Management is automatically opted in to the retirement plan but it takes 8+ years for fieldemployees. If you are a genuine hard worker, you'll get rewarded with more work. But if you're a kiss-up then you will get promoted. The stereotypical "pizza party" reward happens often in the middle of the work day,  resulting in you going back to work after a 20 minute lunch. Everyone is obviously unhappy when they are at work. Everyone complains about their pay. Management will blatantly lie to save their own skin

Was the lead carpenter on a project that broken down into divisions that utilized mostly pre-fabbed walls.  My supervisor told me that my division was one of the few that was making money.  My home market was in Tennessee, but I was working in Kentucky due to a slow down in Tennessee.  The district manager laid me off two weeks before Christmas because I did not want to transfer to that market.  It is an ESOP company, but only if you reach a certain level of management.  Messer brags about their safety program, yet on another project they thought nothing of having us installing rebar in a severe thunderstorm raging all around us, lighting everywhere, and raining so hard that the generator wouldn't stay running.

The benefits are good but the environment is bad karma. You go home every day mentally and physically worn out from chaos and drama. They care nothing about you or your family. Managers are very uneducated in construction and have no idea how to troubleshoot a problem. Very hostile work place on every job. Management and craft force clash on every issue. They can really be deceiving and pretend to be your friend when in fact they are trying to manipulate you. My health has become 110 percent better since I left that company. 

A typical day consists of morning safety and production reviews, prior to pre-shift stretching. I learned basic carpentry skills as well as general house keeping and teamwork on a construction site. My managers were informative and respectful through out my time at Messer. My co-workers were easy to get along with and willing to teach more efficient ways of working. The hardest part of the job for me was working through the elements. The most enjoyable part of my job was to see the progression of the final product everyday.

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