operator

maintenance technician

pallet jack operator

packaging operator

process technician

Steuben Foods

Very little changed during my nearly 6 years here. Favoritism runs rampant, in all departments, at all levels. If you're part of the club you will be treated fairly and given opportunities to advance. The thing is, this isn't a club you want to be a part of. 

If you are someone who, like most hardworking individuals, looks for ways to make their job easier and more efficient, then this is not the place for you. Suggestions for improvement here are not considered, and oftentimes they will get you more work just out of spite from those in charge. This place is the farthest thing I have ever seen from a team, both within a department and between departments. If you don't mind working for a bunch of individuals who are more worried about a solid ego stroke than keeping their best employees happy then maybe you will be ok here. 

If you are someone who takes pride in their work, and expects to be reasonably rewarded for certain accomplishments, do not work here. The hardest workers here are taken advantage of, and those who do the bare minimum (or less) benefit the most. Working hard here gets you nothing but more work. The 80/20 principle is on full display. 80% of the work is completed by 20% of the people. The worst part is that there are some very smart, talented, hard working people here, and all of that is squandered by unqualified department managers that don't have an ounce of leadership or decision making skills in their body. It's like a ProBowl roster with a high school coach. They love to deflect all of the blame on their employees when things go wrong, and take all of the credit when things go well. They are not leaders, don't let the color of their coats fool you. 

If you decide to work here, get in and get out. Place a very strict timeline on how long you will stay here. It doesn't take long for a couple of grade promotions to prevent you from being able to leave because of money. Within the lab, I have always said grade 2 is the sweet spot. Any higher and way too much is asked of you. Not that it is an unmanageable amount of work, you're just not compensated well enough. Also, don't fall for the "optional overtime....we work some weekends...." line. You will work weekends, ideally 3 days a month but usually more. You will work overtime, it is not optional. 

You cannot expect to get different results by doing things the way you've always done them. Steuben refuses to change, the managers refuse to change, so they will get what they've always gotten, and the work environment will be the way it's always been. Stay as far away as possible. 


This company can be a good place to start if you desperately need lab experience or money, otherwise the cons outweigh the pros by a long shot.

This place does have potential but it's mostly wasted by poor management, within both the lab itself and the plant as a whole. The schedule is given on a week-by-week basis and isn't posted until Thursday for the upcoming week, with days off being completely random.  The weekend schedule is given at the end of the month for the upcoming month, but when you're allowed to request off only two days per month and must give management at least a month of notice in advance, it's nearly impossible to plan anything in your life outside of work.
The workload itself is incredibly stressful and often impossible to complete in the time given, and it can be difficult to find time to take a break.  This becomes more and more of an issue the longer you stay because of high turnover and difficulty retaining senior-level employees (largely due to burnout). 
The one saving grace in the face of all this was the relationships made with my coworkers, who were all generally wonderful people. Unfortunately these were still not worth the mental and physical toll of working here long-term.

Since I've been employed at Steuben Foods, the job & facility has been growing & improving. It has great opportunities for you to move up through the ranks & even change your position & shift. The six years  I've been there a lot of people have quit, retired & or got fired, but I'm still pretty low in seniority. There's a lot of good things I could say about the company & also a lot of bad things as well. The moto there is "Steuben Foods isn't for everyone & everyone isn't for Steuben Foods", which is completely true. Unfortunately for me, I'm starting to believe that I'm one of the one's not for Steuben Foods. If I was someone that wasn't a parent & wanted all the overtime in the world, this job would be perfect for me; however that's not the case. The schedule is inconsistent. We've been working six days since January, short staffed everywhere, not knowing if we'll have to stay over when our shift ends. Not having a set schedule sucks the most for me because you never know when your off, so you really can't plan anything outside of work. Recently a guy walked out who was running the line next to me. He went to break with a hour left & never came back, so I had to finish his work & turn in his paperwork.
 At the end of the day Steuben Foods is a great place to work if that's all you want to do is work.

From a wharehouse perspective

Cons, management seams competent, untill you actually need them to do something they they feed you excuse after excuse you will eventually get tired of it.

Honestly i really love my job here worked hard to build a dependable reputation and can do anything in ware house. Im always asked to help out here or there and it personally gives me a feeling of usfullness wich i really appreciate. Managment seams to love me willing to give me all sorts of ot. But when you need them to do something they drag it out for months hoping youll forget when you put there feet to the fire theyd rather loose a good employee over making them happy. 
This is the reason im leaving it creates a toxic work environment for the other employess who have to deal with there  incompetence. 
They also seam to hire any one with a pulse the job is easy and dosent require much brain power. That being said seams like most of the people they hire dont have enough of that in stock to do the work.

The job is not physically demanding to the point where if you're in shape you'll be exhausted after every shift. It's more the hours and the scheduling. Most departments are on six days a week and have been for a few years. So overtime is plentiful. First shift is 0600-1430, second shift is 1400-2230, and third shift is 2200-0630. The pay is just slightly above average and the health insurance is Blue Cross and Blue Shield with the company taking on the majority of the cost. There is a 401k with 3% match from the company. Some areas are air-conditioned for the benefit of the machinery but it also benefits you. That being said the majority of the plant is not air-conditioned and it can get quite hot in the factory in the non conditioned areas. The management team is pretty decent and will often work with you on scheduling if they can. The training is hit or miss depending on the department and shift. Human Resources is also hit or miss. You will never see them on the floor talking to employees on any of the shifts but if you need to file for FMLA or other forms of family leave they are very diligent about that and will walk you through the process step by step. After working there for nearly 4 years I give them and overall rating of two and a half to three stars. 

The job itself is great, the pay is great, the benefits are great! Coworkers are amazing awesome people to talk to and get along with! The managers suck they love to run every machine with a skeleton crew and run nothing on full crew. HR pretends to wanna help but never actually does unless its legally required like pfl or FMLA. Management also gets mad when things don't go right blaming the ples when it's the machines fault or scheduling and there's nothing the ple can do! They tell you overtime is optional but than schedule you for it without asking and you have no say! They are trying to write people up and fire people for sitting in there cars on break while not having a lot of employees as is. The higher up managers and HR have there heads up there butts and don't understand why things break down and why they don't have employees. There is no real ability to move up in the company. They hire people with no real job in management because of there friends and family plan. They don't understand work/life balance at all. Some maybe about 3 of the supervisors on the floor try to sympathize and are amazing in every way! But some others try to act like they can do your job  and try to control everything even if it's not there department but if they tried to do what you do they'd have no idea what to do it's laughable! It's so easy to them until they do it! 


If you are a fresh college graduate trying to find a decent lab technician job to advance your career I would not recommend working here at all unless you are absolutely desperate for money.
The work culture at Steuben has soured my experience working in an industrial setting to the point where I will never take a job like this again. Each day feels like groundhog day as you are given the same redundant tasks to do and data to collect that you never see again and have no idea what comes of it. It became clear quickly that supervisors and managers did not actually care about accurate collection of data, they just wanted the right numbers and many would turn a blind eye if numbers were fabricated in order to speed up production on products. All the thanks you ever got for analyzing product was being yelled at by other plant employees for not moving fast enough or not having the “right” numbers.
I learned some really horrible and irresponsible lab practices here and it was a bad example of working in a professional lab setting. It made me sad to waste my degree in a place like this and my advice for anyone trying to find a job in the scientific field that actually involves ethical practices should steer clear of Steuben and look anywhere else. It’s not worth it.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great benefits, pay is decent, good job security.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Steuben Foods will require you to be on your feet a lot. It is a good job, but it can get very boring and will be tough if you don't like standing up long hours.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work and the people are alright, you shouldn't have any problems here as long as you communicate and do your part. There is a zero tolerance for phones, and they are really strict on break times, but this was because people took advantage of it - so it's not really management's fault there.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I worked in the bottle line, and occasionally was pulled in other areas when people had to leave early. You go in, work your machines, log the paperwork and go home. It's a very predictable job. Sometimes it does get monotonous and boring and sometimes you will be called to work in other departments and cross trained if short handed. Just keep a good attitude, you will have a very long steady career if you just hang tough.

The company is designed with an hr department that is pro owner and seriously neglects third shift issues. Management falls in line with that behavior as well. Constantly short handed across all departments mainly because hours can be rough and although they pay ok it is offset by awful benefits package which really takes a toll on morale. Serious lack of leadership at the upper management level trickles down. The only way to truly advance is to be related to someone there or undermine co workers,  hard work is rarely rewarded. Nepotism rules this plant which is awful because they continue to lose alot of good workers to the short sighted ideas of an HR department that has truly lost its focus on being there for employees. They try to paint a picture of being pro employee but their actions often contradict those words. They make it known your just a body to them very early on and this disconnect causes terrible morale plant wide. 

Easy job for the pay and benefits. Some days are hectic, other days it's so boring that you question why you're even there. Management could be a lot better. They have their favorites and it's hard to move up when you're bidding on a new position against the favorites. OT is crazy. Get used to working 6 days a week with some 12 hour shifts thrown at you last minute. Working 11-12 days straight is not uncommon. It's hard to plan anything around your work schedule because they'll force you to work OT without any notice ahead of time. Seniority is a joke so dont expect anything to get better after dedicating time into this place. Its production over people, they look at you as slaves. They dont care if you have a family, they will work you like a dog. I wouldn't suggest working here unless you're a workaholic or in desperate need of money because they're in desperate need of workers so you're almost guaranteed a job if you apply. Steuben isn't for everyone, and not everyone is for Steuben. That's their favorite line to imply that the job sucks. So good luck.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Operator 13 salaries reported	$24.11 per hour
Maintenance technician 9 salaries reported	$32.40 per hour
Pallet jack operator 4 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Packaging operator 4 salaries reported	$20.25 per hour
Process technician 5 salaries reported	$32.40 per hour

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