manufacturing associate

senior manufacturing associate

material handler

builder

quality assurance associate

The Carlstar Group

People say the army is the most unorganized group to work for well they never been to Carlstar. Your told 8 hour days 5 days a week but truth is you never know what time you will leave, because day to day your supervisor doesn't know. Unless you work in an area that has 3 shifts your not guaranteed to just work 8 hours. The supervisors there are never on the same page or up to date on the information in the planet. You will have to stay over for an mandatory hour safety meeting that you just found out about from your team lead 2 or 3 hours into your shift for that day. On the bright side of things if you like overtime well its Christmas for you there, becomes you run off a schedule if its not done you can leave unless the next shift comes in or you have 12 hours in that day. Weekends with family forget it you work every Saturday with as you have read no knowledge of when you will be off. The pay is great, the work is not hard, yes a little fast pace, and heavy lifting is involved. So over all if you like overtime and only one day off a week with great pay then go for it, but the Management there care no for there employees just that you make them money and help keep there jobs. One last thing there a no excuses planet, that means you get 7 points your fired, and you get points for everything but coming to work. If your sick that's a point and if you want vacation well only 3 people out of 20 or 30 people can be off at a time. That is out of your whole department even if your area has enough people to run and your the only one wanting off, if 3 people working on different lines are off in that area then you have no luck. This past year 2018 they pointed people for not coming to work when it iced and told everyone it was just snow leave early or take a point, and with that the bad out ways the good for me after 8 years, but give it a try if you don't believe.

Manual labor job in extreme temperature conditions. Repetitive motions which damage your tendons. Overtime is always available or mandatory depending on position. Carbon black throughout factory. Spray booth and mill room have high particulates in air. Mill room concentration of carbon black is unhealthy. Your clothes and boots will be ruined and the carbon black does not wash off. If you don't shower at work and change clothes you will ruin your cars interior and your carpet and bathroom at home. Even after washing for 45 minutes you will turn your bed Grey as carbon black is absorbed in your skin. You will literally sweat it out of your pores. Two times a year unpaid shut down for over a week and you are required to use vacation days. Point system for  absences and tardiness. Very dangerous working conditions and poor training. Require lock out tag out but never trained in procedures. Very poor management. New health safety manager seems to address issues well but still has a uphill battle to fight as managers care about productivity over safety. Bring water as they no longer supply bottled water and new water fountain machines are covered in carbon black. I developed heat rash on my legs just by pushing racks past the presses. Press operators work in extreme heat and I was told men pass out from heat and some have died from heart attacks. Many stories of employees mangling their hands requiring amputations of fingers. Jobs like these should be union, if you complain about safety they will find a reason to get rid of you. Nepotism is rampant in this company and it's more about who you know not how hard you work. 

Overall, the role itself was solid—I was compensated fairly and the work was engaging. Unfortunately, the environment shifted dramatically after a new EHS manager joined the team. There appeared to be a troubling alliance between this manager and a particular team lead, which created a toxic dynamic. Several employees, including myself, were subjected to misleading accusations and setups that undermined morale and trust.

The new DC manager couldn’t have run a DC before, not knowing what an export was.  One can only imagine how that translates.  The reluctance to address the problematic behavior concerning the team lead and EHS manager, raised serious concerns about accountability and transparency. It became clear that performance and dedication were secondary to output metrics and internal politics.

Prior to this shift, the building had strong leadership under a former Director who genuinely uplifted the team and fostered a positive culture. Their departure, which many believe was orchestrated by the same individuals causing disruption, marked a turning point.

Ultimately, I was terminated without explanation. It was a disappointing end to what had started as a promising role. When upper management operates without integrity, it reflects poorly on the organization as a whole.

There is a lot wrong with this place, They promise a $600 sign on bonus, which you won't get because of poor conditions of the machines you work with. They say you work 8 hours when the overtime is mandatory and constant if not excessive. counts against you for saying no, and there is no respect for boundaries. There are also camaras pointed at the restrooms. A lot of the time  there aren't enough resources for production. They'll have new people sweep for a couple hours to keep busy.  You don't get trained fully, there have been too many injuries because of that and the machines that are always down or breaking constantly. The work conditions are poor. The place is literally a fire hazard, too many fumes in the air and broken fire alarm.The benefits are sub-par to retail. And management is out of touch with reality. Or they simply don't care. There are unrealistic expectations of how people have to work. Over the years, they have raised their standards of production, wanting newer people to be just as good as a veteran overnight.  I watched a supervisor have a meltdown from making childish comments to threatening people to work overtime "or else" so professionalism is minimal. Its understandable as to why this place has such a high turnover rate. I've seen smaller companies thrive better from making opposite descisions than this place.

They make a false impression upon the first interview, overhype what your job is, some people have to wait a year to be hired on full time(I didn't it only took a month but I quickly found out how rare that was) it's not "some weekends and overtime required) its every other weekend off, if you're lucky, so forget trying to plan things around work, they'll wait until last minute to tell you your relief called in so you'll be staying for half their shift, management is incompetent and can't do something as simple as passing on relevant information. And the well stocked vending machines upcharge upwards of $1 or more than what you'd pay anywhere else, while the pay is decent its honestly not worth it, everyone's miserable and hates being there, and their lack of morale will wear yours thin in no time. I'm ex military, I can handle being overworked, incompetent bosses that dont communicate, and monotonous repetitive work, but I'm not overseas anymore and I dont feel like i should have to deal with that kind of environment anymore. Good luck.

If you are considering employment here as a skilled position...setup, team lead, quality....you should know, before putting the effort in to work here...this company is desperate for warm bodies. They can't keep people, have lost almost every veteran and those still there, I promise you they are job searching. Recently production positions, namely tire builders and molders in the pneumatic department were given a raise and now make the same and more than the setup, quality and team leads make. There is no longer incentive to work those stressful, high responsibility positions. You can just worry about one duty, building or molding, stress free, and make the same. Great if you're looking to join as a molder or builder. But even then you would get here and find out why they can't keep those people...even with that pay. This company has fallen. Lost its values. And it's because of the people running it...how it's managed. Absolutely nothing matters but numbers. If and only if you are desperate, work for this company.

Only draw back is most of the time the overtime isn’t optional. Yes it is true you can volunteer for as much overtime as you want and basically write your own check by working as many hours as you want. However, most of the time it’s manditory! You are scheduled 8 hour days 5 days a week and most days they come to you telling you you have to work over 4 hours if production is down or someone calls in sick and they will sometimes come tell you 10 mins before you get off. They are always mandating people to work Saturdays and sundays and some summers you will work 30 days before you get a day off, but the plus is you get time and a half on over time and double time on sundays so great money and benefits, just a lot of hours.

This company is facing a lot of challenges trying to stay relevant & competitive. A manufacturing process & equipment that is 30 to 40 years out of date. This leads to considerable maintenance down time & quality issues.  Operating a manufacturing business in California. Keeping outdated equipment California regulations compliant is also very costly. A lack of leadership & direction. Upper management complains about the short comings, but will not invest anything into the needed changes and improvements. They seem to have no long term plans for the Ontario location.We have at a lower level begun to design, engineer & build some new equipment( we do all of our own R & D ). All manufacturing equipment used in Assembly is fabricated in house. And now there is direct competition from China.

As a cell Operator you'll find yourself working about 6 presses at a time. You might work up to 12 presses at once depending on the situation, so prepare for a neck-break pacing. Different presses produce different tires, the cavities are constantly changing every couple weeks. Different cavities have different cook times and thus, you must keep up with a workplace environment that you cannot truly control. You are working with 400 degree presses, so please stay safe at all times and ensure plenty of water is drank. Keep on your toes, keep those presses closed, and most importantly, keep your cool. Work keeps everyone busy, so prepare to spend most of your shifts with little interaction with co-workers. Co-workers are kind and hard workers. Management changes constantly for better or for worse. Great pay, and plenty of overtime to be had should you seek it out.

Carlstar Bigs...i hope you read this. The staffing shortage crisis is real. But there is one very simple thing you can do to solve it. The influx of employees would be phenomenal.  Wise up and get rid of the THC random testing. Other companies in Jackson are opening their eyes and doing this and we've had people leave for those places. Us on the floor who know those people know this for a fact. This one tiny thing will solve everything. It's 2022 and it's being decriminalized more and more everywhere. You small minded people think thc users aren't good workers. You are wrong. They are your best workers. You're wasting so much money on these monthly tests. Everyone uses thc and we know how to pass the tests. So it helps on 2 fronts....staffing and saving so much money you could put toward something actually useful. Wake up Carlstar!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Manufacturing associate 20 salaries reported	$22.74 per hour
Senior manufacturing associate 10 salaries reported	$22.79 per hour
Material handler 6 salaries reported	$20.61 per hour
Builder 3 salaries reported	$23.86 per hour
Quality assurance associate 7 salaries reported	$23.42 per hour

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