press operator

machine operator

packer

operator

maintenance technician

PPC-Flexible-Packaging

LONG READ — BASED ON OPINION

A typical workday here is unnecessarily stressful due to the way management operates. Employees who consistently perform well are not rewarded with meaningful support, recognition, or compensation — instead, they are expected to absorb additional responsibilities, fix ongoing problems, and carry the workload of others without complaint.

There is a very noticeable disconnect between management and production employees. Office staff are regularly included in lunches, outings, and workplace events, while production workers — the people actually responsible for keeping operations running and generating results — are often excluded entirely. Over time, this creates a workplace culture where production employees feel undervalued, overlooked, and treated as less important than those behind a desk.

Leadership and communication are major weaknesses at this facility. Concerns raised by employees frequently feel ignored, dismissed, or treated as inconveniences instead of opportunities to improve the workplace. Professionalism from management and HR is inconsistent, and many interactions come across as condescending, defensive, or out of touch with the reality of what employees deal with daily.

The culture here strongly discourages employees from speaking openly. Many workers feel that disagreeing with management, questioning decisions, or raising legitimate concerns can negatively affect how they are viewed moving forward. The environment creates fear of retaliation instead of encouraging accountability, transparency, and honest communication.

Another major issue is that the people above this plant are often only given one side of the story by local leadership. Corporate HR and upper leadership may see strong performance metrics on paper, but there appears to be a significant disconnect between those reports and the day-to-day experience of production employees. As long as numbers and production goals are being met, employee morale, workplace culture, and management behavior often seem to become secondary concerns.

In my years working here, this has been the most poorly managed and most disconnected management team this company has experienced from an employee perspective. 

Upper management appears disconnected from the reality of the production floor. Employee feedback often feels filtered through a select group of individuals rather than coming directly from the workers dealing with day-to-day operational issues firsthand. Because of this, many ongoing problems continue to be minimized, ignored, or passed down onto employees instead of properly addressed by leadership.

There is also an excessive level of micromanagement throughout the facility. Multiple daily Gemba walks often feel less focused on improving operations and more focused on monitoring employees, criticizing small issues, and creating additional pressure on already overworked departments. Instead of improving morale or communication, these constant walkthroughs frequently contribute to a stressful environment where employees feel watched rather than supported.

Training practices are another serious concern. New employees are sometimes expected to train even newer employees before fully understanding the position themselves. This creates avoidable mistakes, inconsistent production quality, unnecessary stress on experienced workers, and operational problems that stronger leadership and proper training standards should prevent in the first place.

One of the most frustrating issues is watching experienced employees leave while inexperienced replacements are brought in without proper preparation, guidance, or industry knowledge. From the production side, it often feels like experience, reliability, and hands-on knowledge are undervalued compared to appearances, favoritism, and management politics.

Overall, this workplace suffers from poor morale, weak communication, inconsistent leadership, and a culture that too often prioritizes control and obedience over collaboration, respect, and employee development. The company has the potential to improve, but meaningful change would require leadership to genuinely listen to production employees, address concerns professionally instead of defensively, and start treating workers with the same level of respect they expect in return.

Don't work at this company. There are no growth opportunities unless you're one of the boss's favorites. It used to be a good place to work until new management came in and started showing preference to certain employees over others. New employees make more money than current employees who have been with the company for years, and to get more money, they want to overload you with more work and give you an absurd list of what you need to do to earn more money. It's crazy and unrealistic. They make it as difficult as possible for you to grow and advance in the company; it's as if they've already chosen who they like and who they don't, and no matter how hard you try to improve, they only see the small mistakes and none of the good stuff, making it very clear that you're not doing enough to deserve what the new employees are making. And last but not least, this is a hybrid office position: 3 days in the local office and 2 days remote. However, despite explicit instructions, team members refused to comply with the rules and only come into the office once a week. Not fair for others who follow the rules and show up the 3 days. This behavior discourages and disrupts the team's functioning, Management doesn't support you in addressing the problem. Their perspective is that people should mind their own business and focus on themselves. But when there's such a huge difference in employee treatment, it's hard not to notice and get upset. Employees are not listened to. Management has made very poor decisions that have affected the work environment and given you no choice but to leave.

Turnover was medium-high in this department in my few years employment, and it is no surprise to me. Pre-press design is often tedious, as it focuses more on the technical application / cleaning of pre-existing art rather than visual development - which means lots of measuring text sizes, repetitive proofreading, and scanning file after file for miniscule dots. It has been helpful to learn how to meticulously design / color / prepare artwork for printing, but it can get rather soul crushing over time if the technical side is not what you care for (or for the low hourly they offer for it despite its necessity).

It's an alright work environment - they're willing to work with requested department transfers, so there is flexibility to learn. Coworkers are polite and generally well-meaning but management seems out of touch with the expected workload vs pay - I was appalled to learn how severely underpaid two former technicians in our department were despite one being loyal for at least 13 years in a fast paced, demanding role that is vital for continued operation to the rest of the facility.  Especially with what a fast-growing and rewarded business this is in its industry (it seemed an entirely new location or two was bought/added each year of my employment), there's little excuse to not compensate their workers with genuinely competitive wages for their successes in this district.

I genuinely find it difficult to name an enjoyable part of this role that wasn't increasingly frustrating, and hold little faith for any incentive to stay long-term.

The expectations of the job are incredibly high. As management expects perfection and the same speed and quality of those working there for 5+ years when you are just months in.

This job does require a lot of technical perfection, but with the fast verbal training/demonstrations from a singular person and with standards and procedures changing what felt like every week, it's very difficult to internalize and apply all the information. The singular trainer was also in charge of multiple people at the same time, so understandably would forget who he had told/taught what, but the director will still hold you accountable for knowing information you didn't even know you needed to know. 

I was also getting contradicting information on rules and procedures from both the trainer, management, and other coworkers. 
You will be told to ask for help and ask questions as needed, but when you actually do that you will get passive aggressively shamed or interrogated for forgetting or not understanding. The processes are outdated and full of room for human error, but if you make a mistake (you will) you will also be shamed and/or yelled at, likely in the same area as your peers.

Your superiors will talk poorly about you to others, ignore you, and make your job more difficult if they dont like you. Everybody is constantly blaming others for problems. I really dont recommend this job unless you are the sort of person that can fit into that environment, but I still don't think the mental toll is worth the pay. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The job is pretty easy for the pay, your packing mainly bread bags off the conveyor into boxs your whole shift. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Checking the quality of your bags,it constantly changes with whats exceptional.  The machines are older and things are broke on most so it produces bad bags that could be every other bag in a bundle of say 250 to 400 and you have to short through and pull the bag ones out while trying to keep your line from  jamming, 3 minutes every batch and watching for jams

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment can get stressful,with the quantity expected to get out with machines not running properly is not taking into consideration. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Management is a huge probpem so it can get pretty stressful. If you need help say with jams for example they tend to treat you differently with attitudes and writeups to push you out for complaining. Basically go in deal with bad quality and keep your mouth shut, if you have any issues and need HR she is not professional and treats everyone poorly.

If you have worked there 8 or more years they want to move on from your experience and dedication to the company.  I feel sorry for some employees who have been with the company before it becoming the  total corporate disaster that it is now.  PPC lost the family atmosphere that cared about their employees and their families.  

If you do make it up the ladder of success it puts you on the chopping block even  quicker.  It's sad employees can't depend on employment with PPC when they are buying a home or car since they could be termed at any point.  

Pushing for KPI's is just a way for the management group to hide the real factors while pushing the employees for more output without any appreciation.  

If you do work here take the knowledge and craftmanship you learn and keep all your options open as  there are many flexible packaging companies that would appreciate your experience and dedication.

 


What used to be a good choice for a career in flexography no longer exists at PPC. Today's PPC has only one concern and it will NOT be you. There is a very clear divide between the exploding number of management personnel and the folks that actually do the work. Those with the most experience and knowledge are dispised and disposed of the most. The "New Style" management is always concerned about the wrong things. They don't respect core elements and best practices in flexo that have been standard for more than a century. Saying the company is top heavy is very much an understatement. Way too many people with strange titles trying to figure out how to make things work by getting rid of those doing actual work. 

Great place to work if you do your job and aren’t lazy. You sign up for work and know what it takes to do the job, then why complain. Place has been good to me and I can see it getting better and it’s large opportunities for growth if your not lazy and complain about everything. You know what you signed up for then just do it make your money go home and take care of your family. Only attitude I come to work with. My only beef and I don’t complain about NOTHING but I say this cheerfully Press workers should get paid more for making our own Inks and getting it up to standard for print. But other than that job is great D shift is a wonderful Team in Rome! Best I ever worked with. 

If you have a different option, choose it. DO NOT WORK HERE. Im talking about the Payson, UT office, Art department. The art director, Simmy Chow is a BULLY. She will welcome you with open arms but then, if you mess up, which you will, she will bully you into quitting. I have exhausted myself trying to change things for new people but they do not care about improving the situation as she has done this for 30 years. You will hate your work, try your best but overall, they don't care about their employees. EVERYONE quits eventually. It depends how long you can stand it. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay was decent. Although don't get your hopes up of seeing any of the raises they say you will receive anytime soon.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything is so disorganized. Management does not communicate effectively with shifts OR with other management. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Cluttered, chaotic, and stressful.
They talk a big culture game but it's all for show. On the press room floor it's pretty tense and you're at the merxy of your management.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Press operator 5 salaries reported	$22.27 per hour
Machine operator 8 salaries reported	$22.59 per hour
Packer 4 salaries reported	$16.23 per hour
Operator 9 salaries reported	$21.38 per hour
Maintenance technician 5 salaries reported	$28.80 per hour

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