production operator

maintenance technician

machine operator

maintenance mechanic

extrusion operator

Saint-Gobain

My experience working in the maintenance department at Saint Gobain as a qualified electrician has been disappointing and not in accord with initial job explanation and expectations.

 [PLEASE TAKE CAREFUL NOTICE..]The facility identified as Saint-Gobain in Ennis, TX is, in fact, operated under the CertainTeed brand. Due to a substantial number of unfavorable reviews on platforms such as Indeed, it appears the company is now listing the Industrial Electrician position under the Saint-Gobain name—likely in an effort to obscure its association with CertainTeed and avoid the negative perception tied to that brand.]

 The department is characterized by high turnover, which in itself is indicative of deeper systemic issues. Unfortunately, many of the concerns I heard from current and former employees prior to joining proved to be accurate, and that it is just a bad place to work. That is why most people leave.

There is a notable disconnect between what is promised during the hiring process and the reality of the job. New hires are often told they will work with modern automation systems and PLCs; however, the majority of the tasks are routine and do not involve any meaningful engagement with advanced technologies. Mostly just busy work is assigned to keep you moving with no real benefit to the company. So called training is just in face only and meaningless. Additionally, shift schedules are often changed unexpectedly. Employees may be hired for a specific shift but find themselves moved to inconsistent or undesirable hours with little notice and forced overtime.

While the pay is competitive, the work environment and overall job satisfaction leave much to be desired. Management is many times dishonest and tends to lack transparency, and decision-making mostly appears to be influenced more by internal politics than by merit or qualifications. Career advancement opportunities are limited unless one is part of an inner circle, which can be discouraging for any motivated and skilled professional.

Work-life balance is also a significant concern. Hours are unpredictable and make it difficult to maintain personal commitments or a consistent routine outside of work.

In summary, CertainTeed may be a viable option for someone in need of immediate employment, but I would advise caution to those considering leaving a stable position elsewhere. If you do come here, you will probably regret it

I loved what I was doing and thought the job came very easy to me.  Working a swing shift was something I found I could adapt to.  My routine was to immediately identify any issues with bottles or equipment on the machine, swab and make sure our gobs were loading correctly.  My main goal was to make sure we were set for the whole shift within the first 2 hours of work.  Once things were done right, the days usually went easier.  In my time there I went from someone with no knowledge of mechanical machines to complete knowledge of my all facets of the job.  If I can learn how to maintain those machines, I can learn most any mechanical jobs.  The hardest part of my job was dealing with less motivated co-workers, that made my job much harder than it should have been.  It is my assertion that if everyone had cared as much as I did, we would have been much better off.  Unfortunately most were just going through the motions without any regard for anybody else.  Also, company men and women with very little knowledge of my job were allowed to run rampant over the machines during their time there.  The constant abuse and cursing at employees honestly made me very mad.  I clashed with a particularly ignorant company person multiple times, as I would not be yelled at and cursed at for something I couldn't control.  There were people out there that literally made me hate going to work everyday, despite confidence that I could handle most situations that could arise during any given day.  I enjoyed accomplishing a high pack percentage, and fixing things others would or could not fix.  Overall, this company was not run in a way that made employees comfortable, and the company person I clashed with has since been fired for physically assaulting an employee.  My objections to this treatment made them label me as insubordinate, and having a bad attitude.  That coupled with the death of a family member of mine in 2012, and a subsequent lawsuit, brought myself and 2 other family members that worked there under further scrutiny.   The hiring of multiple new company people,, including a new HR person, further helped those with a problem find a way to terminate us.  We have all since been fired.  In December of 2013, upon arriving to work, I was taken to the office and terminated for reasons I still haven't been told. In all, if every company was run like this one, very few would ever profit, or have happy employees.

The Granville location is without a doubt the most ridiculously depressing environment I’ve ever had the misfortune of working in. While the lure of decent pay may seem fine there’s no room for advancement, management is a massive problem that alienates the entirety of the work through extreme dishonesty and demeaning behavior. When you take this job you’ll be told what a great environment it is, how there’s so much room for advancement, and how you’re lucky to be a part of the team. It sounds too good to be true because it is. The amount of hoops one needs to jump through to even come close to getting a raise is insane, but the management is the single biggest issue. They’ve bred a culture of us vs them and the vast majority of current employees believe the same things I’m stating here. You are nothing but a number to them and as such it has become a revolving door of employees starting and subsequently leaving in very short amounts of time. How corporate hasn’t come in to investigate why the turnover rate is so how I do not know. If you enjoy being told that your commitment to the company is greater than that of your own personal life, if you enjoy feeling as though you are a subordinate and the people in management are better than you are because they have a title you don’t, if you enjoy being lied to and then being told you’re mistaken when it’s brought up, if you enjoy being in a place where management doesn’t have a clue as to how to run it and it’s in total disarray, and if you enjoy a culture where the people calling the shots have more powers than they should but also have absolutely no clue why everyone is miserable or how anything should actually function in a normal business setting then please feel free to take the job and join them because they certainly need more employees with all of the disgruntled ones that leave. Oh and if you should use all of your personal time and then something should happen and you’d need to take a day, you may as well start looking for the next job because you’ll already have one foot out of the door. 

I can't say that there is such thing as a "typical" or ordinary day at work. My day as a quality checker/inspector varies from day to day depending upon the particular job that my shop is doing at that time. My line of work is however very interesting in that each job (and sometimes each day) brings forth something new. It can start out smooth and problem free and in a minutes time have me problem solving and running to keep up. I've learned alot with my position as quality checker/inspector. I know in more detail of what to watch for and what problems certain defects will cause. I feel that my position is very important in ensuring satisfaction for the customers. Management is very strict on the quality aspect of our products and the maintaining of a 5S environment. However, they also are patient and quick to help out when things get really crazy such as during job changes etc. As a quality checker/inspector, the majority of my day is spent working alone. However there are times that we have to go to each others shops and help out and also watch each others shops during break times. I get along with my co-workers very well and can work along beside them or alone. There are several challenging aspects of the job, all of which makes it all the more interesting to me. I'd have to say the most difficult aspect is that It is a swing shift job. I've been at this job for 3+ years and I do pretty well with it but I must admit that I'd prefer to be on one solid shift every day instead of every week switching from 1st, to 2nd, to 3rd. I enjoy my job at Saint-Gobain because I enjoy the quality end of production. I get to visually inspect and run gages. I have my own work station that I am responsible for maintaining neatness and 5S requirements. I am responsible for sending out my product to the shipping department and determing that it is up to specification according to the customer specs.

Spent several years working within the confines of Saint-Gobain, part as a consultant and then being hired on as an employee. The one thing that really concerned me was the fact that they preach about being fair and ethical, yet the practices of the employees and specific departments are anything but ethical. The human resources department is very back-handed, back-stabbing and likes to sweep things under the rug that will make them look bad. The compensation is decent, though the really good workers are always passed over for opportunities while those who brown nose or are lazy, but are well liked for whatever reason, are pushed up the ladder. As for culture and values, this company does not practice what it preaches. Forget job security, there is none. If you get on the wrong side of one person, you are a goner. It doesn't matter if you work 60 hour weeks, work on your vacation or create ideas that save the company several thousand dollars, you'll be out in the blink of an eye. I saw it happen more than enough. Management is terrible and lacking, at least on the SGC side (I can't speak for CertainTeed, as I know many of their managers are top notch -- they adapt to their own values, not SGC). They roll in late, leave early, constantly have doctors appointments, "work from home." We never saw our manager. There's a lot of taking advantage of the system here. On the flip side, the work/life balance was ok. I could go to my real doctors appointment without question and as I would work 55 hours a week as it were, made up the time. Glad to be in a place now where I feel respected, SGC doesn't appreciate their workers, at least not the good ones.

Working at Saint-Gobain was a challenging experience due to the toxic work environment and lack of support from management. Discrimination and harassment based on various characteristics were prevalent, and hardworking employees were often overlooked. The company culture was non-existent, and the emotional toll of enduring such a workplace was significant. Despite the challenges, I learned the importance of prioritizing my well-being and seeking out a work environment that values its employees and promotes inclusivity. My advice to others is to avoid workplaces that tear you down and instead, find a job that allows you to thrive and be appreciated for your unique skills and talents. At Saint-Gobain, smart and high-performing employees, especially those who are multilingual, are often targeted for harassment due to the insecurities of their colleagues. The older employees feel threatened by the potential of newer team members and may resort to sabotage, while supervisors can also feel intimidated by those with real potential. The work environment is challenging for those who stand out, and it's important to be aware of the dynamics at play. Some of them couldn’t stand the heat and got already out the kitchen. It is time for a whole change of management in the company. To let the ones who really deserves it to give the opportunity for the outstanding, honest and responsible ones. Otherwise for my smarter fellows out there go get a Job that is worth to have a intelectual and smart person like you. 

I read that somewhere and it perfectly sums up my experience working at Saint Gobain.

Overall, it's a very good company. The pay is good. The benefits are good and there are lots of little perks that make it a good place to work.

The job itself isn't physically that demanding. Some of it is in a clean room environment, so you have to completely change clothes to go in there and work. Sometimes you have to do this several times a shift, which can be a pain.

A typical day would be doing the daily rounds where you measure temps, pressures, etc and input that info into a spreadsheet. Then after that , there are always PM's that are due. So you will usually do that sort of work the rest of the shift.  It gets mind numbling boring after a while. You kinda have to switch your brain off some days. Occasionally there will be projects and more interesting things to do, but not often.

As for management,  the company prefers to hire maintenance people with little to no experience.  The most experienced people there ,all left during my time there because they were no allowed to advance or grow in any way. There are no 'decision making' roles here unless you have an office. 

They can and do change your shift when they want, so be prepared for that.  

There were several mass layoffs while I was there. Job stability was not something I really saw during my time there. 

Overall, if you are just getting started in the trades, you can make more money here than most other companies and get some valuable experience. If you already have a lot of experience, that won't be of much use here and you will quickly see there is no where to grow with this company.

This company is more worried about headcount and pinching pennies than getting the job done correctly and efficiently. They promised me temp to hire and the whole 3+ years I was there they never hired a single person. They treat you like absolute garbage. The people in charge are not even in the same sate and had no idea what we did or how. They talk to you like you're less than human because you're a temp. They have 12 workers there and only three are permanent. We were forbidden from taking vacations unless the permanent people had been able to take all of theirs. WE were forbidden from participating in any extra curricular activities including the Christmas party only permanent people were deemed privledged to go even if you've benn there for years BUT when it came to getting the job done the "temps" were expected to give up their free time and weekends to get the job done while the permanent people were excluded from weekends and it was mandatory for temp.

This was by far the worst place Ive ever worked and have never been treated like less than a human being in my life.

Saint Gobain is a very safety orientatated place to work. The pay was good enough in life sciences after a lower level start pay. 

Working conditions depend largely on coworkers and management. Some are great and others lacking. I have had great management leave and replaced with people who micro manage to all day long. 

If you're one of the leaders hand picked favorites then you can get away with whatever you want. It really depends on who likes you and who doesn't.  Pretty much everyone I worked with acted like they hated one another and treat others along those lines.

The usual  assortment of employees. You have the ones in that are smarter that everyone else, your chronic complainers, your I'm with the married line leader so I'm protected, your total screw ups and then a smattering of people that do great work.

HR is semi non-existent. They will complain about things and then never do anything. Management is detached from the workers. They want to believe that they get it done but management and engineering to will dump work off on production and chill in their office. 

Supervisor instagates conflict. Accuses rather than communicates.

You have to abide by a level up process instead of just getting a raise because you make the company buckets of money. 

Overall not a bad company just be ready for some incompetent management and some fellow employees will throw you under the bus at any given moment. Very low starting pay for how much the company makes.

Overall, not a bad place but there's better.

Over the last few years they have had multiple plant managers and hr people.  They keep finding a way to hire even less competent people than the last.  There are currently engineers with no engineering experience and god forbid you have a question for hr. They text and harass the employees about keeping in touch, but never answer texts or emails themselves.  They recently gave everyone raises, which is nice.  But they are starting a new program for raises, but nobody knows how to apply or qualifies. I've asked hr multiple times for clarification, and their answer was always well get back to you. The deadline has passed with no answer. Good news though, if you get a first shift job, then nothing is ever your fault and you can just blame the other shifts.  The shift supervisors are almost as incompetent as the managers.  It seems they take the least qualified people and promote them. Depending on who you are and your position,  rules don't apply to you.  Fabricators are sometimes timed on breaks,  while leads and supervisors are free to do whatever they want.  There are a few exceptions, meaning people that try to enforce standards equally but those people are looked over for promotions and taken advantage of multiple times daily.  If you have a problem or a real complaint about something, they focus more on dealing with the person complaining then the actual complaint. I've seen it multiple times where the person comparing has been reprimanded. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production operator 77 salaries reported	$20.90 per hour
Maintenance technician 69 salaries reported	$30.85 per hour
Machine operator 32 salaries reported	$22.24 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 66 salaries reported	$33.76 per hour
Extrusion operator 78 salaries reported	$22.70 per hour

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