shift leader

chemical operator

r&d engineer

process engineer

summer intern

Momentive Performance Materials

First off, they literally throw you to the wolves with essentially no support and set new hires up for failure. I was hired in as a customer account specialist and the functions of the job were clearly misinformed by the hiring manager. The hiring manager actually was extremely negative during the interview and stated all the terrible things that were going on in the business such as plant closings and lack of material and very stressful environment. A typical day was processing purchase orders that customer faxed or emailed in for new material. I learned in this environment and especially my department that favoritism was at the forefront of the group. My manager was highly unprofessional and had decided early on that they did not want me apart of that organization and provided no support, structure or game plan where I might be successful. The manager was very rude and inconsistent with expectations early on that it would take several months to the better part of the year to become comfortable as told by the trainers and other personnel and demanded that I get everything almost immediately after training. My co-workers for the most part were unprofessional and regularly used foul language on the floor with no consequences or repercussions from the manager. My co-workers were unsupportive and equally rude when I required training to learn the ropes of the job and be successful. The most difficult part of my job was the overall lack of support and encouragement. My co-workers and team could care less if I was successful and did nothing at all to assist in my learning and development. Beware if you are applying for this position because appearances are highly deceiving. This position was a nightmare and learning experience for me and I had to resign my position or else be terminated. Furthermore, my department manager openly told me that there was nothing furthermore they could do to help me be successful. They had decided in the beginning of my hiring that they did not want me. I highly do not recommend this position for anyone out there. They tell you lies and when you start they throw piles of work on you and the management and team is very clique style like and chooses favorites.

If you are a young, "Type A" individual with loads of energy, a thick skin, doesn't mind a heavy work load with lots of extra projects/travel and doesn't need a lot of training then Momentive's OTG Group will be a good place for you.

Management - Most of the Business Management Team is very young (around 30 years old).  They were promoted up after experienced managers quit or were fired.  Most of these young guys are extremely arrogant and devoted to their own agendas.  They push their people hard and don't seem appreciative of the hard work (they are totally focused on results).  The few older managers just do what ever is necessary to keep their jobs.  They won't stand up or fight for their people.

Co-Workers - My co-workers were good, hard working people.  They were friendly and mostly very young.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of them would quit in a year or two.  The every day work load is full with many goals/six sigma projects stacked on top of that.  Plus, there is no training/development program to speak of.  This coupled with managers pushing you ever further drove most people away.  But if you could hang in there, you would probably be promoted to a manager within four or five years.

Best part about job - You got to see how an entire business is run.  The business was always profitable and had grown substantially in the last ten years.

Worst part about job - Rude, arrogant managers who push you hard and don't want to be challenged on their own bad decisions.  Employee turnover is alarmingly high with about 25% of the staff leaving each year.  There are just a handful of people there with any tenure at all.  HR Group is the worst I've ever experienced.

As mentioned above, you need to be the right kind of individual to succeed at Momentive's Katy, TX location.  You are going to be worked hard and expected to complete many additional goals and projects.  You will also be asked to travel a great deal.  But if you can handle it, you will be promoted.  If you can't handle it, you will quit or be pushed out.  There is no in between.

Fist off, there are a few good things about the company.  There are several great people working here.  Operators are very knowledgeable about their process and are generally willing to help out when you help them understand what you're asking of them; however, the great people who work there are always overshadowed by the lack of vision, and path forward by the upper management.  Not only do they not give promotions (only 1 in the 4 years I was there in my group), but when they say you are performing everything above your grade, but you just need to prove it (why do I need to prove what you just said I'm doing?), it shows the lack of support from managers is "outstanding".  They like to keep hiring 'replacement' managers to manage the work of the people, but they don't replace anybody who leaves and continue to expect their employees to pick up the slack without getting anything for it in return.  Instead, you get higher health premiums, no increase in vacation, lower 401K matching, a pause in raises for a quarter in order to make the fiscal year balance out (poor executive management if you ask me) and more work.  

There is no support into R&D of their products and their sales lack the enthusiasm to talk to potential new customers to see where Momentive's products can possibly work into.  Instead, they utilize their scientists to cold-call potential new customers to look for new areas of growth instead of their Sales group giving feedback and ideas of where they should be researching.  And when there is a potential new market to go to, there is no funding.  It's like it's all ticking off check-marks on if there is a business model for the product before the actual prototype is in place.  That's like putting the cart before the horse.

If you are looking for a place with no direction, rude secretive management, no business/sale/marketing planning and very little work life balance - then you found the right place.

Very little training (they have no clue what they are doing nor how to train anyone).

Overly Positive Attitudes (don't bring up that competition is kicking your butt on pricing or has a better product - they can't deal with it)

Kids in Management (Very young Directors and Senior Mangement that started on a lab bench or as Customer Service 5 years ago straight out of college and have no training or experience in Oil/Gas industry)  These are the people who you report to and they don't know how to manage people, nor do business plans or a coherent Sales & Marekting plan.  (did I mention one of the Directors doesn't read?  he doesn't read call reports, relies on people telling him information, and doesn't do any research - but drinks, hunts, and travels on the company)

Truth hurts - Can't tell the truth about product issues, pricing, poor marketing, internal failures without getting lectured.  

No internal or historical documentation - Doesn't have a CRM system, basically when you are calling on customers, you are recreating the wheel, you are always starting from square one since there is no record.  If they do have any documentation, then it will take months for them to give you access the files.

Secretive - Business unit hides everything.  Even down to not releasing MSDS sheets to customers prior to selling the chemicals/proppant.  Wouldn't let a customer test samples of product or release data sheets - killed their own sales.

Revolving door - lost entire sales force in 2014 - all of them quit.  Usually cannot keep Sales, Customer Service, Procurement, Logistics coordinators for longer than 12 months.

Be careful if you go to work for this business unit in Katy, TX.  More than likely you will be leaving in about 12 months.

You can give 100% or 10% it won't matter, only to yourself. I used to love this place! Still has good people union brothers! All the problems are company side, they need to make changes this time for the better! (ERRORS in Management and Supervisors) Supervisors weigh you down with problems and will stab you in the back! Soon as you do something good for the company they take full credit! The problems that come with any job even if its supervisor they blame you! This place could really be something, but it won't because they won't pay the workers more for inflation. All cost increase to make a living in today's world, but we all know other places have got pay raises! Oh also, You have no pension, and insurance haha your better of paying out of pocket! That's a fact!!! If the company removed half the Supervisors and invest that money into the working people of this facility wow what a difference this place can be! People would actually want to work here! So many good people and experienced workers left! Supervisors and Union workers both! If this place does not do a turn around soon  I would hate to see what will happen! This company needs to think about the future and the people making this place still stand before it's gone. 

Momentive is organized into two operating companies, Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. and Momentive Performance Materials Inc., which maintain separate capital structures and publicly report their results. The company serves its customers through three operating divisions:

Silicones and Quartz Division
Epoxy, Phenolic and Coating Resins Division
Forest Products Division

Momentive Performance Materials Inc. manufactures silicone, silicone based derivatives, quartz, ceramics and other specialty materials for diverse industrial applications. In 2009, the company had sales close to $2 billion, of which more than 90% were in silicones and derivatives segment.[1] As of 2010, Momentive is the second-largest producer of silicones in the world. Its close competition are Dow Corning and Wacker Chemie. Momentive Performance Material's world headquarters is located in Albany, New York,

Up until November of 2016, the union had worked with the company to establish a very fair wage and benefits for employees.  The continuous shift work schedule is rough on the body, soul, and family, but the pay made the job worthwhile.  Unfortunately, the company, in an effort to cut costs, is refusing to maintain the standards of pay and benefits while aiming to reduce overtime.
There was little to no management in my lab and the lab always ran very smoothly because of the experienced, quality leaders and team members there.  
Work is a lot like being a short order cook.  Samples some in with a specific test or tests to be run and they are completed based on priority.  Eight hours passes quickly as you are usually on your feet, moving from station to station, and running multiple assays simultaneously.

This used to be a very successful business and a great site.  They held market leading positions in several key industries, developed new products that customers wanted, and enjoyed the benefits that come with that success.  Unfortunately, the company has under-invested in new product development and site infrastructure for several years.  Momentive has lost ground to most all major competitors and will be hard pressed to recover their former status as a market leader.  It is exceptionally hard to cost-cut your way to profitability and impossible to get back to market leadership without spending money.  The trickle-down effect is a loss of talent across the board as people self-select to move on to greener pastures.  There are still some very good and dedicated employees at Momentive, at all levels of the company, but they face a difficult path ahead given the strategic decisions made over the last several years.

Working within the team enviornment, with the exception of one or two people, has been wonderful.  The manager, generally, does a great job of keeping things going well and he/she does not micro-manage.  The freedom to schedule life events such as Dr. appointments, etc. is a welcome bonus working within the team.  Feedback is given when asked for, both career wise, and also when talking about projects, or research.  The down-side or 'con' about this company is it seems like they don't know where they are going.  They have difficulty retaining employees not only due to a lack of job advancement, and benefits offered (christmas bonus, vacation, etc) but also due to some employees degrading the culture of the work enviornment.

I only worked at Momentive for a summer, but in that short amount of time I learned a lot. I spent most of my time in a lab in the R&D building at the Waterford location. I had to learn to use the equipment and about the chemistry behind what I was doing.I designed my own experiments and was given almost free range to do what experiments I deemed necessary. The culture is one with a huge focus on safety, and everyone is willing to help each other out, leading to a very enjoyable place to work. The management was very open about what was going on within the company, and where they see the company going in the future. The hardest part of the job was the learning curve in order to figure out what materials you are working with and how they work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Shift leader 11 salaries reported	$175,270 per year
Chemical operator 1 salary reported	$32.73 per hour
R&d engineer 10 salaries reported	$26.04 per hour
Process engineer 6 salaries reported	$103,158 per year
Summer intern 5 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour

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