security officer

chemical engineer

utility worker

maintenance technician

laborer

Talen Energy

I was there for about 3+ years. While I was there there was significant turnover in Operations and Maint/Technical Training at Management level and below.

OPS training could not keep instructors. In the 3+ years I was there I saw at least 6 SRO-Certified instructors quit for various reasons. I saw Initial  Operator Training go through about 3 leads, saw 3 different OTMs. The department was mostly kept together by contracted instructors who were all dedicated and hard working.

I still stay in contact with OPS and MT instructors and many are essentially overworked and miserable and I expect the attrition trend to continue.

Why, well, if you keep changing the variables and the problem still persists, the issue is probably with the constants.

Its a great plant with a proud union history, however PPL is gone and Talen is backed by private equity, so the Union days of getting whatever was demanded is long gone. Nuclear profit margins are slim and the CNO/CEO are transformational at achieving safety, quality, and profitability.

This used to be a great place to work.  Management and union employees worked together well and had a mutual respect for one another.  Employees took pride in the plant and everyone worked as if they had a vested interest in seeing the plant succeed. When current plant manager was hired, that all changed. It is now and extremely cutthroat environment where everyone is miserable and willing and ready to throw each other under the bus in order to deflect any attention away from themselves.  Management no longer has any interest in working as a team,  unless you're a "yes man" and go along with things you know are wrong or unsafe. People are jumping ship left and right for good reason.  The plant has the ability to return to the days of better teamwork, but for that it needs better leadership. That would require an entirely new management team,  and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Typical Day at Work: 

Work a 10 hour work day that includes any emergency work as first priority, then scheduled work next, and then preventative maintenance.

What You Learned:

The job contains many different systems, so the ability to learn is a never ending.

Management:

Has a large structural layout. Many departments that must work together. Most management opportunities are filled within house.

Your Co-workers:

Again, with so many different classification of workers, everyone works together to get jobs completed.

The Hardest Part of the Job:

Having the ability to learn all the systems in order to be confident with them.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:

Satisfaction of completing the job at hand.

Even though there were long hours initially, there was a sense that the investment in the company would pay off in the long run.  Since the new management took over in Dec 2016 there have been many people leaving the company - at all levels and departments (this is in addition to the many positions that have been eliminated by the new management).  I do not feel any connection to the company and the new management because of how they have acted since taking charge.  All they care about is doing as little work as possible to save cash - so they can pass it along to the investors.  Also, it is expected that benefits are set to be cut in the next annual cycle. For the first time in my professional career, this is just a J-O-B.

Talen was great when it was first spun off, but once it became private it all went downhill.  Massive layoffs except for Texas, where they keep hiring.  Employees that remain are overworked.  Management is trying to change too much at once, and in the meantime all the departments point fingers at each other every time something goes wrong.  No one is on the same page anymore and no one wants to take responsibility.  They're setting themselves up for failure.

I’ve never experienced an environment like Security at Talen. It’s like high school but with a ton of insecure adults. Constant drama and immature behavior between employees. Even supervisors can encourage it depending on the shift. Unless you know people going in there it will be a constant struggle to try and succeed at your job which is always changing and you’re expected to know what to do at all times. Pay rate has been outdated for 10 years. Not even close to being worth it for $22 an hour 

Management at Brunner Island is running the plant into the ground. They have the worst decision making abilities possible. When they are wrong, which is pretty much all of the time, they blame the workers for sabotage. They value money over safety. Upper management does not invest enough money to keep the plants operational. They do not value the experience of employees and treat them horribly. The plant doesn't have much of a future. The schedule is also horrible.

I had high hopes when Talen Energy was spun off from PPL.  The challenge of standing up a brand new company was exciting.  Then, new management took over and cut the IT department by more than half.  Many of our duties were outsourced.  I felt that upper management did not know who we were, nor did they want to find out.  

On the positive side, I had opportunity to increase my knowledge by helping out other groups as IT people began leaving the company for greener pastures.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great people to work with!   Management is also very good to work with.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The amount of things you have to work on is sometimes stressful 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very open and friendly. Most of the people are very easy to get along with

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Troubleshooting serval electrical systems throughout the power plant. From high voltage to low voltage

Talen Energy offers professional opportunities in a geographic area where opportunities are mostly entry level and warehouse positions.  If you understand that no company is perfect you will realize that Talen Energy is a decent place of employment.  It is a very busy and transitioning company.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Security officer 3 salaries reported	$56,587 per year
Chemical engineer 2 salaries reported	$105,000 per year
Utility worker 1 salary reported	$30.72 per hour
Maintenance technician 3 salaries reported	$100,000 per year
Laborer 1 salary reported	$23.18 per hour

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