mechanic

maintenance mechanic

laborer

sanitation worker

research technician

Seneca Foods

At Seneca I learned all about the corn processing industry and about hiring seasonal and migrant workers.  I learned about OSHA reporting.  I worked directly with all the managers on a daily basis and have deep respect for them all.  My favorite part of this job was finally getting the chance to really use my training, the professionalism, and my responsibilities.  The hardest part was the summer season, because the work load triples, many hours of overtime are required and we worked seven days a week during the corn season. 

The following are things I would do regularly:

Daily I process payroll reports using Kronos and SAP.  I report to all department Supervisors and the Plant Manager.  Track all employee time off records.  I recorded employee deductions, such as room and housing, employee purchases and dues.

I was the wellness coordinator.  Monthly topics were posted aimed at improving employee health.  I organized health screening and flu clinics for the staff.

Hire employees.  Recruit employees by advertising and job fairs.  Enter all new employee information into data base.  Process electronic I9’s.  Administer new employee training.  Maintain employee personnel files.  Teach benefits offered and give out packets that I organized.  Gave plant tours.

Worked with migrant contracts and attended many state meetings to learn about services offered for migrants.

Workmen’s Compensation reports and claim filing.  Disability employee claims.  

I tracked current employees safety training that was done monthly.  I did monthly OSHA reports and logs.  Maintained records for the Midwest Food Processors.   I tracked many reports used by the Controller that were based on employee pay and information.

I participated in creating our Affirmative Action plan book.

Planned many meetings and helped organize events.

I took minutes for meetings and posted the minutes.

I’d heard of this company and it’s multiple locations in the past. People seems to work here for years. Then I started working for the company and I couldn’t understand why people stayed. Extremely outdated technology, no job culture, it seemed oddly cliquey at the corporate location in Janesville for no real reason at all, unqualified people placed in positions because their parents were higher ups in the company, and Technical Services if you call them that was a joke. They’d promise support, but no actual support came, along with misguided direction, and then belittling when you when you made a mistake or didn’t understand their process. Which was unavoidable since you were training yourself. When you did reach out to them they made you feel like a burden so it was pointless to do so. There was also this weird interaction between technical services and the thermal process authority, you’d end up being the middleman and report what was told to you to by them to technical services because the two departments didn’t get along. The biggest thing I got out of the experience in the end was that canning wasn’t for me. It didn’t thrill me, I didn’t care for the odd high school behavior the company seems to allow, and I couldn’t fathom staying with a company that would promise the world, but couldn’t deliver. 

The culture is weak starting from the top: BWags’ nasally voice and inability to recognize a new approach from within the past 40 years will haunt my dreams.  Biiiig boomer vibes.  

From day 1 there was zero guidance whatsoever short of “here’s our dingy 70’s motif looking break room we double as our training center now go through the orientation programs” but don’t worry, they will send someone you’ve never met before in about once every few hours to make sure you’re awake.  After that sweet intro they’ll scramble to scab together a laptop that has all its programs still on ef’fing INTERNET EXPLORER!!!  It’s cool though because if you want to know how exact day to days go you just have to know exactly what to ask or  to ask or no one will let you know how things go until you didn’t do them then the plant manager (also straight from the 70’s) will let you know about it.  Upper management beats it’s chest about continuous improvement and being Kaiden engrained...biggest joke ever!  They berate the mechanics and just throw a bandaid on a gunshot wound and expect more pounds every year with the same rundown, antiquated equipment and systems.  They wouldn’t know a true CI innovation if it but them in the hind.

A nice thing was the 6 1/2 hr. days.  The guards each put in 6 days a week.
What I learned was the necessity to observe and pay attention to everyone who entered.
We had one lead person who would give us any pertinent information as needed and he also took care of the large part of the paperwork.
I only saw my fellow guards at shift change.  They were all amiable friendly people and we got along for the most part.
The booth which served as our office and place of contact was very small and so one could feel a little claustrophobic at times and the days could seem long for lack of activity. On occasion I had to turn away employees for being inebriated, they would come wanting to go to the canteen but if they were drunk or unruly or came past 10PM I could not allow them in.
I worked the evening shift so that I had a good portion of my days free.  I met a lot of people.  Most of the employees are migrant workers and think for the most part we enjoyed each other

During the begining of the season I join the Human Resources Department Team and help with the orientation/registration and new hire process. The process includes an all day training course that I instruct and facilitate. All employees must attend and participate in this training prior to being scheduled for work. During the production period I jump into my Sanitation Supervisor position and over see that all of the food handling equipment and surrounding areas are continually sanitized & maintained in a high level of cleanliness. I am responsible for running departments in a safe, cost effective manner and assuring that all team members are doing their part in helping produce a high quality product. Which is the hardest and most enjoyable part of my job. Yes it a hard job but it is also enjoyable and rewarding working together with my sanitation team to produce a great product.

6 months out of a year you did maintenance and planned upcoming projects but could spend very little money.  When money was available, you worked 5 to 6/10 hour days.  During canning, you worked 7/12 hour days.  I haven't had a summer since starting to work for them.  

Because management lacked the necessary people skills, employees ran their own projects any way they wanted to with the only deadline being "it had to be running by canning time".  This allowed procrastination on projects which allowed my co-workers to do only that which they wanted to do, not all that needed to be done.

The hardest part of this job was the long hours and working with management to upgrade equipment and controls.

The most fun part of the job was upgrading controls into the 21st century using PLC and HMI technology.

I hired on and within a week immediately had management issues. They paired me with a person incapable of doing the work which put me in a dangerous situation. When I forced the issues they threatened to fire me. Another issue was that they made me give them a theoretical situation on how a contamination could happen and then gave me a 3 day suspension based on the theoretical situation with no pay for not following procedures and then refused to fess up and pay me when they found the contamination happened on a different line. The 2 superintendents don't get along and pit the different departments against each other.  Management plays favorites and those chosen golden boys do absolutely nothing while the non chosen work themselves to exhaustion. My direct lead threatened to fire me multiple times a week creating a very hostile work environment. They have work related accidents constantly. This is just overall bad place to work.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The respect of all the people that I work with. The hr rate and also getting PTO right when hired and the job is not heavy and getting 3 breaks 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Maybe when have to work on Hayssen 3 because you package 24 in a box and when at time's when line down and having to wash 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Great people work together we have 3 people per line.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come to work check the sheet to tell us where we are going to work. You run sometimes 2 times same product then you have to wash the scale that food runs through. Then other areas 
 We drain the machine from previous product first then wash the buckets clean floor from previous product then set up the line with new boxes and be ready to when line will start. We sanitize the floor.

Working at Seneca Foods has been a difficult experience overall. The biggest issue is the seasonal nature of the work, which means long hours during peak season and then little to no stability afterward. During the busy months, employees are often scheduled for 70+ hours a week, leaving little time for rest or personal life. The pay does not fairly reflect the amount of effort and exhaustion that comes with the job, especially given the physical and repetitive nature of the work. Management can feel unorganized at times, making sudden changes without much communication, which creates frustration for the workers. There is also little opportunity for advancement, as many positions are temporary or seasonal with no clear path to a permanent role. While the company keeps production running, it often feels like employees are treated as replaceable instead of being valued for their hard work.

Shipping clerk, scheduled shipping appointments for load pick up of product, and scheduled product receivables for production needs. Collaborated with team members for picking orders to ensure product was ready for pick up appts. scheduled day to day. Learned how to read production reports to ensure products were available for when order was scheduled to run. Learned how to work with warehouse systems in order to ensure product availability and location in warehouse to fulfill orders. Did not really have a hard part of job, other than occasional product change and not having the product available and on hand to run due to unscheduled product change. Enjoyable part was meeting new people and learning new processes.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mechanic 1 salary reported	$32.75 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 2 salaries reported	$26.00 per hour
Laborer 2 salaries reported	$19.91 per hour
Sanitation worker 1 salary reported	$21.83 per hour
Research technician 1 salary reported	$14.48 per hour

Working at Seneca Foods: Company Overview and Reviews

Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Ratings

Popular jobs at Seneca Foods

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected