engineer

senior analyst

manager

senior engineer

analyst

Toyota

Typical day at work.

start of shift learning about what workload is, which would change differing on a varity of factors weather, manning, events etc. I could come in and usually predict the workload based on weather events holidays natural disasters whatever happens.


What I learned.

I wouldnt say I learned, "new" things I was already seasoned unfortunately before coming in more like fine tuned to do assigned task. I'd say the jobs boring but thats anywhere you go. What got me is working 5 days a week with random weekends is very tedious and scary to think about because I am older I NEED my weekend to recover now I must have that or I'm red zoned the entire week on energy.


Management.

I don't really have a negative or positive opinion of management. They seem okay. While I was there I noticed the blame game from workers from everyone I volunteered to take the blame because I just don't care but I noticed the realization that staffing is a problem always short handed its a rough job stemming from the fact its a 5 day work week, theres no affordable housing nearby only unrealistic monopolistic landlords so people have to commute so basically their checks are spent on rent housing, transportation with limited money for savings and the stresses that comes with that. I can hear a room temperature IQ parrot say that's everywhere you go! But I think with population rapidly declining, retirement etc it doesn't look good for staffing.


The workplace culture. 

Is pretty average dedicate being awake to being productive I'm not much different than the machines I see. Theres still the common general mindset of dont be a victim so pretty toxic in terms of evolving into anything better just stay in the 90s mentally and watch the clock slowly turn into dust with the general mindset seemed like.


The hardest part of the job.

I could sum up everything by saying coping with the phsycial and psychological demands of the job but heres more in depth.
I tried to rally people in the logic of a 4 day 12 hour workshift 4 shifts 4 days/nights on 3 Days/nights off then alternate but 3 shifts manned and a 4th ghost shift used for special assignments cleaning etc or if there's a breakdown the ghost shift pulled staffing from the other 3 shifts make up the difference with the reward of a 3 day to 4 day weekend that's a slam dunk people can transfer faster etc with saved travel time of what 4 or 5 hours weekly or more when converting to a 4 day work week. benefits is more jobs less fatigue probably less breakdowns higher quality list goes on granted the transitional period would be a headach once it's cemented would be greatly benefical I tried for maybe 10 years trying to sell that idea now theres finally some studies to back it but I'm worn down now. I give up I'm defeated.

The general consensus people are absolutely determined to work that 5 days a week for 8 hours which turns into 10 to 12 anyway caused by breakdowns working fatigue traffic jams whilst not accepting the possibility that's why they're so tired/angry. I've learned throughout my life when someone makes up their mind its made up even if I'm shackled down too theres no amount of graphs or any logical disscusions that can persuade them to steer away from what they think they want analogy platos cave is a good example. So I left for a 3 to 4 day workweek the benefits of that is obviously tremendous in comparison to traditional 5 day work week 2 day weekend like the tradional 90s workweek vs what I'll have soon 3 to 4 day work week with 3 to 4 days off its a no brainer!


The most enjoyable part of the job.

Would vary for everyone but mostly the money and ever so short watered down weekend that I usually just sleep and I would think about how nice it would be not to ache and be able to go do something instead of just purely recovering on the short 2 day weekend.

Toyota brought together several of it's North American affiliates to form one company.  It has been almost 10 year since that started.  The issue is the culture. One company seems to be taking over as the front runner in that area.  Those team members who who were no originally part of that company are beginning to suffer as a result. It really seems to be swept under the rug, as exit interviews don't even ask why you are leaving.  There is a ton of talented people at Toyota, and it is shameful how that talent is being run off (for the lack of a better phrase).  Hard to accept what you have now, when you know there was once much better.  But as that talent leaves, they are being replaced with people who will only know the new culture, so that is a positive thing. 

I've watched as there has been a changing of the guard in SR mgmt positions.  Most of those leaving, ie retirements, are made up of majority California transplants and the bulk of promotions are going to those who came from Kentucky.  Don't get me wrong, there are others being promoted, but by percentage, it's Kentucky by far.

Toyota's sell themselves.  The Sales and Marketing teams have done a phenomenal job at creating a machine that works well.  The concern now, is if that machine will be dismantled and a rebuild attempted.

It's by far not all bad, but there are many people in places of power that shouldn't be.  When you have tribal knowledge just walk, you need to know why.  At this point, I don't see that being a concern anymore. 

A typical work day involves many meetings trying to coordinate component change points between design, evaluation groups, planning groups, suppliers, surrounding part design groups. Most of the work is minor change points to existing designs that requires little to no engineering analysis. Mostly of what I learned is how the components work, manufactured, assembled, and how it relates to the overall vehicle. Management spends a lot of time trying to plan daily tasks for the week/month but sometimes rarely considered the previous work load and accounting for unplanned work, making overtime a common occurrence and more meetings to plan work instead of actually working what is not getting done. Co-workers are all very friendly, willing to help, and great to be friends with. The hardest part of the job is managing multiple projects and taking many unplanned projects with lack of management support in prioritization. The most enjoyable part of the job is learning more about car parts and how they effect other parts and systems. Then the rare occasion when, as a design engineer, you get to apply what you learn to prove a minor change point will be OK or be an improvement to the product.

Good pay, good benefits, but that's about all you can expect...the hours suck, two weeks on day shift then switch to 2 weeks on night shift. But our department was usually off every weekend. You work till you get your number, so there's never any set hour per day. For anything over 8 hours per day is time and a half. But when it comes to family, even putting in a leave of absence is difficult and you only have five emergency PTO days per year that life can happen and your  PTO doesn't have to be scheduled in advance only if there is no more than 2 people that are on schedule to be out that day. I had 76 hours of PTO left and I needed the week off because they were going to take my mother off of life support at the end of the week and I wanted to spend that time with my mother while she was here. I put in for a leave of absence and I was denied. They wouldn't even take my PTO time because it wasn't 72 hours in advance and there were people on the board to be off already. Also only had 10 1/2 months in, so FMLA was out of the question. But was told if I went ahead and put in my resignation that I could be eligible for rehire in 6 months. Leaving me no chance for unemployment. So I lose my mother and my job and I have no other income... Well I hope I can make it homeless and hungry for the next 6 months in hopes that maybe I might get my job back... 🤔. To be continued ... God bless! 

Procurement is more than just buying and pricing parts.  On the direct buying side one person is responsible for the procurement of a commodity or several commodities.  That buyer is the only buyer for that commodity, meaning for all the vehicles made in north america, the buying functions for a specific part falls onto one person.  The facets of the job include everything related to your suppliers.  Risk management, legal, supply chain optimization, supplier plant improvements, cost reductions (APR), setting cost targets, design changes, plant visits, international travel, supplier training, commercial negotiations, sourcing strategies, industry research, new supplier evaluations, benchmarking, tradeshows... etc.   In purchasing, you will have direct responsibility or support functions for all the items listed above and then some.   Most companies have separate departments for several of these functions. 
You never run out of things to do and learn, each day is different.  This is exciting and shows the amount of trust Toyota has in its employees.  BUT --- this comes at a price--- the workload and expectations are high.  You must complete everything and accurately, leading to a lot of burnout and turnover.  

Can be long hours plus very mentally and physically challenging. Most employees never know for sure what time the shift will end due to overtime calls done close to end of the shift. There is no flexibility with hourly workers. You work as the plan schedule due to being part of the plant to build vehicles as a group. This is an ever changing plan. The room for error on a line worker is zero. You are expected to make no mistakes and keep the line moving. Told to ask for help, but pressure to go as fast as possible and possibly hurt yourself is high from bosses to your coworker. The environment is everyone is out to prove they are more important then others which leads to a stressful and overall unhealthy atmosphere. Of course not all people do this, but enough. People will step on you in order to push themselves up to limelight. Management style is the direct reason for this. Pay is not much higher for the high expectations then other factories.  

I started at Toyota on the financial side. I have to honestly say that department would actualy make you appreciate working for a wonderful company like Toyota. I decided not to transition to Plano Texas so I was able to get a position in Toyota Motor Sales (Warranty Department) . Unfortunately the concept of work, life and balance was thrown out the door. Management had favorites, if you wasn't in the click you were overlooked for positions. It just wasn't a good experience. Toyota Financial encouraged their associates to enroll in classes to enhance themselves. Toyota Motor Sales not once encouraged that opportunity for my last three years with the company. No matter how hard you worked you received the same review and merit increase. We were advised that if we had a internal issues amongst associates we could tell our supervisors and they would keep your confidentiality unfortunately that wasn't the case. If you apply at Toyota. You might want to consider applying on the financial side. They run that side like a fine tune engine and they're very professionally.

What is the best part of working at the company?
some of the people I worked with were great

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
the management changed things all the time and not for the better...   management hated the employees and always said it was our fault if something did not work right.  the company always taking benefits, they called it One Toyota but the changes were not ever for the better but worse for employees.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
We had head of HR say in out monthly meeting, when you walk through those doors you MUST conform to the Toyota culture.   Not too much longer after this statement, management moved her to Portland Oregon ....  The work environment was stressful, always threatening about work performance..

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
wake up, dread going in, wonder what changes were in store for us, and wait around til 1:30 to see if we were forced to stay for 2 hours of overtime... we could never plan anything because management did not know how to run the place.

If you don't mind honest work for honest pay, then you'll have no problem feeling right at home at  TMMWV. I enjoyed every minute working there and I never once had an issue with management. Excellent pay and benefits. In a world of uncertain and problematic opportunities of rewarding and fulfilling career paths, Toyota North America and, in my personal experience, Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, opportunities are endless, career advancement is no problem, clock in, do your job and work smart, get a paycheck and live a relatively happy life knowing you're going to retire in a financially safe state. Your family will feel great about it too. There are overtime requirements, but what a small price to pay to have so many rewards offered by a company that cares just as much for their employees as they do their customers. They are hands down a bar-setting global leader in the Automotive Industry and it shows. Thank you Toyota and everyone who worked/works there for everything that you did for me. 

Interview process is long and tedious but it's worth it if selected.  The corporate office is a GREAT place to work--The benefits and perks working here are world-class

Most leaders are OLD, been with the organization for over 20 years so they're not very flexible or open to change.  Any NEW leaders are hand-chosen--you have to a CHOSEN ONE to be promoted in the company...everything done here is intentional, never by accident or incident.  You will have to stay in the same level position to "prove" yourself to OLD leadership for a minimum of 4 years before being promoted (for most departments).  

If you ask too many questions, or don't follow protocol, you are labeled a "trouble-maker", although the CEO of Toyota was "rouge"--that won't work for you in America. 

If you want to stay in the same position with great perks and benefits, this is the company for you.

If you want to move up and effect change in a fortune 100 organization, this isn't the place for you--go to GOOGLE!!

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