laborer

maintenance mechanic

machine operator

skilled laborer

forklift operator

West Liberty Foods

All I can speak of is my experience but all of my co-workers, when asked had only one thing good to say about the place; "The pay is good."

The negatives, however, were too numerous to mention.

1. The company claims to be a family focused/oriented business yet when time off is needed after working 6/7 days a week for months during the summer when it's nice to camping or on vacation and you are not someone who abuses taking days off it's like pulling teeth getting supervisors to work with you.

2. When it comes to team members raising concerns about other team members not carrying their weight continuously they are not replaced for cause. But when things get slow or minor mistakes occur management goes on Witch Hunts to find scapegoats and to  punish those diligent, self starting, knowledgeable workers by either suspension, demoting, or firing them, cause you know, they have to look good in front of the board in their reports.

3. When concerns are raised about issues with equipment, tools, process, etc. it takes forever for things to happen if they are rectified at all, and unfortunately for the team members who care or are impacted day in and day out by these problems, they are simply left to deal with them with no end in sight.

4. When performance is above and beyond you are lucky to be given a genuine "Job well done!" from any upper management let alone see any other form of recognition or compensation.

5. Even if you are knowledgeable of the process', the product, the parameters, procedures, etc., have seen upper management and supervisors come and go more often than not the company will hire off the street instead of in house.

Even the job description as listed by the company is disguised to entice intelligent, common sense, hard workers.

I wasted nearly 4 years of my life (Don't get me wrong, I grew and learned a lot but this statement reflects the bitter taste left in my mouth from years of mis-non communication and hypocritical actions by plant management) there thinking there was something in store some possibility of grandeur and success for all the blood sweat and tears I spent coordinating with other team members, months on the focus group trying to find solutions to plant-wide issues, (which turned out to be company wide), even weeks on more than one occasion trying to find solutions to line specific production problems.

Then there's  the workers.... they know that no matter how many days in a row they work there are no genuine thank you, pat on the back or even a verbal thanks. So how do you think they are going to strive for excellence? They're not. Once they get to that point forget anyone caring about doing a good job.

It's kinda funny the first comment was made by an office person. Most of office positions are way less stressful and never hear about them getting write ups or suspensions. Office in this company is a whole different culture. Not so much rush hurry hurry, free samples, donuts, popcorn, vendor hats /shirts etc. You won't be hearing people from the floor  talking about this company like that.

I am a current employee, but for no longer then is absolutely necessary. The concept of management is absolutely foreign here, and the idea of mandatory overtime is their favorite thing. They can't provide meat to process, have no ability to forecast and this are constantly struggling to manage the workflow, have no respect for employees lives outside work, and will punish you on a technicality because management can't communicate properly and steps on each other's toe frequently. The equipment is choosing to be ” state of the art” but only if you are looking at 20 years ago, and is barely kept running at best. The majority of the employees are ” not emotionally vested” because they are burned out and can't care. The environment is suited for a dock or ship (bring in basic training i didn't hear the f-bomb as frequently add i do here on the floor or in the break room) and hr doesn't care. Your training is frequently and often ” here is s device. Go to work” and then try are surprised when you get injured or damage something. The only good thing about this job is the employee market, being able to buy 40 lbs of meat at $30. I don't recommend anybody apply here.

Well I worked at West liberty foods for almost 2 years or more. Not long although long enough to realize they weren't good place to work. Only for there money, it started of great I enjoyed the rte side. Several people began harrassing me about my 69 life. I continued not caring just trying to make money, they were always reliable for good pay. Just poor people and management most likely. I was there for 1 year laid off, came back working other side. Started off alright, although should've gotten transfer far away early. Several leads were very rude, and would constantly get extremely angry at you over nothing. Some of them were dumber than the workers, if your not going to treat people right then they won't work for you. Also the supervisors didn't care whatever leads says goes, also moved people around too much. Forced them to stay late, also work too many days especially the rte side was entirely different from the start. Working people Monday- Sunday? I kept showing up trying to keep good attendance and give them a try after hiring. Honostly I enjoyed where I was working if it weren't for a disruptive lead, who should've respected people for what they do rather than being  large n charge bossy & picky. 

This place is ridiculous. Though some co-workers are ok, overall it's a hostile work environment. That is unless you're "in the clique".  HR holds leadership training to improve professionalism, which mostly goes ignored, especially by supervisors and upper-middle management.  

Need parts to do your job? Forget it. Either they're rarely in stock when it should be, denied because it's expensive, a poor quality knock-off, or find a way to "country engineer" multimillion dollars worth of machines. Then, catch a butt-chewing when it isn't fixed.

Don't get me started on superintendents that make highly unsafe operating decisions, while parroting the company's safety first slogan.

It's preached that you should show initiative. Be warned, if you do be prepared to be told "no" at best, but more likely written up.

I heard a higher up make suggestive comments about attractive female workers, wish harm upon those who identify as LBGT... and he was one of the NICE ones.

They underpay relative to many places in the Midwest, i believe because they have very little competition in this small region.  So, they can get away with it. Pay is ok for such asma town.

These reasons and more are why there's such a high turnover.

While at first the job was great, it quickly turned into a highschool. People start crazy rumors or try to get anyone in trouble. There is no life outside of this job.  No one is trained properly and get thrown into jobs they've never done only to be scolded like a kid if it's done poorly. 2nd shift is so under staffed,but they will tell certain people who've worked there before that there are no openings. People get hired and quit within a couple months. The lack of communication leads to people getting yelled at for not knowing what's going on. They will not work with you on really anything and someone is always out to get someone else fired.
There is favoritism and certain people can do whatever they want,while others get scolded or written up. If you're looking for a career,this isn't the place. If you're looking for some quick money while being hired on the spot with little training and to get yelled at like a child,this is where to go. The turn over rate is beyond insane. There are some really hard workers here but there is no team and it is not a family orientated place to work. You don't matter in the scheme of things no matter what you bring to the table. You are just a spot to be filled.

This company could be great but the managers are the dumbest people I’ve met in my life, I say this and I’m apart of the management team, ( I’m a supervisor). The managers make the worst decisions from the office, they are very out of touch with what’s happening on the production floor and with the team members. They lie to team members daily, abuse their authority and don’t know anything about labor laws. So many violations are being committed due to poor management I don’t even understand how this location is still operating. The managers poor decision making and lack of knowledge of how to manage is so unreal I’m starting to believe they are secretly working for the competition to destroy the company from the inside. Management will be the reason this company fall under. In the last month more than 5 supervisors have quit due to poor management, I’m seriously considering resigning. 

West Liberty Foods is one of the oddest places I ever worked. On one hand you got the sense that everyone in the building really did want things to work out. However, A mixture of bad business decisions poor management, and general aimlessness makes it a hard place to recommend. It seemed like the people at the very top were making things up as they went along leading to leads and supervisors giving instructions that seemed to change on a whim. I don't think I disliked anyone really, but listening to them change the story on how the company was doing gave me worries that turned out to be true when they laid half the people off. If what I heard was true the people in West Liberty proper don't really have a grasp on the Chicagoland area despite being there for a few years now. The pay is probably just bellow average, but the healthcare is just above the median. Due to the changes constantly everyone was constantly overworked which lead to low moral. If you can stick with it though it seems most of the leads and management were all hired from within.

Oddest culture I've ever experienced.  HR and hiring folks are very upbeat and happy in their m-f 8 to 4 jobs.
It's so loud! And about 45 degrees.
 All NON management get worked to death. First shift has steady hours. Second shift have no idea when they are done. Average 9.5 to 12 hour shifts every day. On friday you may learn you work on Saturday. 
There is nobody who will look out for you, so if you don't speak the language, it will be rough. Spanish is primary. A few of the supervisors and leads only speak and eat with other spanish speakers, ALTHOUGH they know english. There are no Polish supervisors.  Some english speakers. You'll be lonely. 
Bring warm socks, jackets to wear under the boots & smocks. Bring plenty of food, lots of microwaves and frige space. 
You will stand the entire time. Leads have you do the same position/work for whole shift. Nobody cares if it's bad for your body. 
There is so much that could be changed to make it fantastic. There needs to be more employees cuz we are getting burned out.

There are colonies of ants living amongst the workers! These ants have learned to communicate with each other to steal from the lunch room. I leave food out to eat later, and when I come back from my shift the ants have stolen my sandwich. I tried to bring this up to my management, but I suspect they might be working with the ants. I've seen ants speaking to our HR reps, but they close the door when I walk past. Everytime I bring up the ant problem in meetings I get written up, they recently asked if I'd like to go on a company retreat. When I asked around about this "retreat" nobody knew anything about it. Now when I walk past the ants they watch me and follow me to my car after work. And it's as if everyone is in on it,  Whenever I mention the problem people are quick to change the subject. I met a man that knew about the problem and spoke about a revolution to bring down the ants. Later he was "transfered" and never heard from again. I'm afraid if I say anything more about the problem I will be next. Other than that it's a great place to work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Laborer 14 salaries reported	$18.04 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 39 salaries reported	$27.18 per hour
Machine operator 11 salaries reported	$20.80 per hour
Skilled laborer 2 salaries reported	$20.25 per hour
Forklift operator 9 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour

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