assembler

material handler

machinist

machine operator

welder

S&C Electric Company

Remember your dad/uncle/grandpa who worked at the same company for 50 years, advancing by ability and not by company-hopping, with a company culture invested in employee growth and longevity instead of short-term market gains? Do you then remember learning that was a fairy tale in the current job market? 
When I stumbled upon S&C, I was shocked to learn that companies like this still exist! It was such a relief to find somewhere that didn't view employees as disposable, and whose strategy and goals could be measured in decades instead of quarters.
I love working at S&C because here I have stability while building something that matters, and the freedom to explore my strengths and build my career. I can't overstate the peace of mind in working for a company that has serious longevity and provides a necessary service that is only becoming more essential. From the beginning, I had the latitude to prove my abilities outside the scope of my original position, and S&C was quick to provide me with opportunities to advance in new directions, across departments and roles.
Work life at S&C is not flashy like a startup, but even that is improving as S&C modernizes. They pivoted amazingly during the pandemic, enabling fully remote work for all possible positions, and now have embraced the flexibility of letting employees choose between full-time in office, hybrid, or full-time remote as a permanent status. Active affinity groups and my quarter-century club colleagues keep us connected even remotely.

S&C is a large company with good job security and that's about it. If you are looking for job growth, good pay, diverse culture,  work-life balance or career development, this is not the place for you. The struggle to retain finance and accounting talent is real! 

Goals are imposed from above and employees are penalized for not meeting them. The company  does not trust its employees and constantly monitors them. Consequentially, employees are disengaged and their confidence is further eroded when their entire year of work is reduced to a single performance rating, which no one believe is real anyway. 

Projects are delayed, management is inept, and project cost overrun are rampant.  Employees are not empowered or provided the resources to succeed. When projects fail, the blame is on the team.When interviewing ask about turnover, career growth, career path, and development opportunities. Also ask about diversity and inclusion and look at the color spectrum of those at the top.

Advice for top leadership, people are your greatest resource. Great organizations are built on a recognition of and commitment to the importance of each team member. When they are treated as just a cog in one of S&C's machines and not valued for their valuable contributions, you end up with a revolving door of talent. Times have changed.

Company is over 100 years old, privately held, employee owned manufacturer with 1000s of blue and white collar employees. Creates complex finished products with vertically integrated production chain from the simplest raw materials. Non-union but employee centered culture. 

I mean, who among the people you know can say they work for a company which makes finished products from the ground up and offers ESOP to its blue collar labor force? This company makes useful products that improves average peoples lives and offers a decent income and good benefits to the lowest of its workers. To me that’s more important than $. 

The actual condition of one job or another depends who you directly report to but the company has reliable policy which protects its employees and ensures basic accountability. Bring a positive attitude and you can grow yourself here. 

There are some inept middle managers and confused relations between departments at time. You have to learn patience for bureaucracy. 

Overall, S&C is an innovative company that has a lot of unique things going for it - employee ownership, manufacturing in the US and breakthrough products.  That being said, it is not the right fit for everyone, in particular those coming from publicly-traded organizations who may feel the pace and open culture jarring from what they are used to.  

Recently, it has had a lot of changeover in leadership and the new CEO's style is in contrast to the company's values. This has only increased the culture that fosters infighting, mistrust, politics, toxicity, and ultimately inhibits the companies ability to grow.  The top of the company is not rowing in the same direction and that trickles down to disfunction.
 
If you are looking for a place that will tell you how to do your job, then this is the place for you.

Work culture is pretty laid back. People will watch the times you come in and leave at, unfortunately...old school in that sense. Many relatives work here...is common that an employee will have a cousin or father or daughter who works somewhere in the company. Hardest part of job is trying to implement any type of process change, as company is made of of many people near retirement age who are resistant to change. Good company to come to in last decade of your career. Most enjoyable part of job is that the company does a good job of bringing on genuinely good people. Most people are a joy to work with and love what they do. People do not typically leave this company once they are on board.

Pros

Employee ownership means they are not chasing quarterly profits nor do they have frequent layoffs. Profits are reinvested in the company, and the stock price as of late has been doing great, which is also great for employees.



S&C has also made some long overdue improvements to DE&I with new employee affinity groups and more public embrace of diversity.

Cons

While S&C has made great improvements to workplace flexibility, it still seems to have trouble reconciling what is the best market based policies for the professional track team with general policies for all including the largest segment of employees on the manufacturing team. Also, while the longer than average tenure of employees is good signal for stability, it may also contribute to an increase in "silos" and communication difficulty across the divisions of the company. This may be a common theme with any 100+ year old company.

My day starts with rounds of my assigned  mechanical rooms and heating and refrigeration units.  Then if everything checks out in my areas, I am assigned varying work orders, from preventative maintenance to fixing a air hose to HVAC unit not working.
I have learned a lot about how our systems work and what building they feed.  Also how to correctly use a standard BAS Snieder system.  I have taking a class on hydronics and soon attending a air compressor class.
 My co-working are always willing to give a hand, but let you do the work to get hands on work.  
The hardest part is working in a 24 hour factory with no AC.  We always work in extreme heat.  We are provided Gatorade from our company, but sometimes the heat gets to you.
I am always guaranteed 48 hours of work, 8 being overtime on Saturdays.  Having weekends off is also nice. Saturdays are not mandatory. 

The test line for intellirupter is a slow and boring position. Every test is automated to the point that a monkey could do it. You must sit there and watch a screen run through the test until it is done. About 80% of the job is just sitting there staring at a computer screen.  Little to no training, and little to no supervision. The company preaches safety and quality above delivery, but expects you to do anything to push a failing unit through. There is no troubleshooting and no repairing allowed if it means that a unit will not be going down the line. Overtime has been mandatory for years and does not appear to have any intent in changing. Pay and benefits are great but that is because they know how awful the job is. Lots of vacation time with a holiday shutdown. Second shift has a 20% bonus in pay. Great job if you are looking to be overpaid and underworked in the worst way possible.

During the 1st 10 mins of each day, our team meeting with our Team Leader discussed the results of the prior evening & present work to be done. All O.S.H.A safety rules followed @ all times. Great industrial working enviroment that's still thriving in Chicago over 100 years. I thoroughly enjoyed the powder coating stainless & mild steel products of various sizes. I've never had the pleasure to powder coat anything, ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE CORRECT TYVEK BODY SUITS & SUPPLIED AIR HOSES FOR PROPER BREATHING. The hardest part is cleaning up the entire electrostatic painting booth....I've cleaned been worse.  The best part was being part of a productive team, great team members who communicate, & our immediate Team Leader, who worked with us on the floor every night.

They would perfer for you to quit before they hire you. If hired, 6 mo before you get benefits after you worked 10 mo for temp agency.
No life because you are working 10 hours a day every week. Work is easy if you've worked for them for over 20 years. Training is terrible because workers think you want their job/machine. Pay??? If hired, $14, you have to stay in that position for a year before you can move and if you want more money you have elements in which you get $2 ....
You know what, you are better off finding somewhere else to work because all the time being spent trying to get more money out of them is useless. I got paid more money and worked way less than trying to work on a machine for a company in which the people dont want to train you. It use to be an awesome company to work for until Conrad died and the employees took over.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Assembler 166 salaries reported	$20.73 per hour
Material handler 69 salaries reported	$19.85 per hour
Machinist 37 salaries reported	$23.71 per hour
Machine operator 31 salaries reported	$21.86 per hour
Welder 32 salaries reported	$25.52 per hour

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