Indiana Packers Reviews

3.1

51% would recommend to a friend

(72 total reviews)
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Eric Sheiss

Not enough data to show CEO approval

43% positive business outlook

Indiana Packers has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 72 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Indiana Packers employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

72 reviews
1.0
23 Aug 2018

People/Pig slaughter

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The fellow employees band together and are supportive due the pain endured. Pay and benefits are good and your hands can make it 60 days...

Cons

First the breaks are ridiculously small due to all the PPE you have to remove before sitting down in the lunch room. You basically get 4 minutes and you only get 1 break a day. Also your shift starts at 7 but they require you to new dressed and ready at the line SO REALLY your shift starts at 6:40 so you can get ready. Secondly your hands are guaranteed to get injured. Good luck getting a restriction for your injury in your probationary period. If you do go to HR they will simply wrap your hand and send you back. If you go home thats a point on your attendance. I was told by management after telling them about my ligament that shifted in my finger "Ya this job isn't for anybody." This is why their turnover rate is so high. They really don't care about your injuries because you are replaceable. Maybe if they offered the insurance at the start of your employment you could see a doctor that would actually help but they know how long it takes your hands to break down.... less than 60 days (when you're eligible for insurance) Thirdly.. Write ups... They try to put fear in the workers by writing them up and enforcing strict punishments. Someone wasn't wearing a piece of his PPE one time and was suspended with no pay. Some people live check to check and this could severely harm their families living. But again... they're replaceable

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Indiana Packers Response
7y
I appreciate your candor and level of detail. I'd like to respond to several of the issues you raise. With respect to pay for hours worked, in addition to our team members' time on the line, IPC team members are also compensated for the time required to put on their job-specific attire & equipment. All employers are required to do this. We've done it from the first days of the facility's history. I'd be interested in understanding more regarding your perspective on break time. I've not heard this (and haven't seen any comments of this type previously on either Glassdoor.com or Indeed). Regarding your risk of injury, I'm sorry you had issues. The nature of the work requires adaptations for some team members; we do our best to address this in both the interview & onboarding processes. In fact, it's one of the reasons we're implementing a "training line" as well as a "work hardening" program for new team members. As team members come onboard, our concerns are both for their welfare and the probability that a team member will throw in the towel before giving themselves a chance to get assimilated & succeeding. Our injury rate is more than 25% below the industry average and we take great pride in the work we do - both during onboarding & throughout the course of team members' employment - to ensure everyone's safety. It's why we have onsite nursing 24 hours, a very active safety program, a clinic dedicated to providing medical care (at no cost) to our covered team members and their dependents. We have a very, very competitive benefits program with team member contributions lower than most of our competitors. From my 22+ years of experience, the frequency of corrective actions is well below average. In part. this is because we want to give our team members the opportunity to succeed - and all too often - written corrective actions don't accomplish that. However, as I previously noted, we do take seriously the criticality of safety. When team members commit knowing violations - that place themselves or others at risk of physical harm - we need to address the issue. As with most employers, I have no doubt that we have opportunities to improve. For anyone interested in learning more about Indiana Packers' initiative to become an employer of choice in the area, please feel free to reach out to me. Mark Berry, VP, People (HR, Safety, and Health Services)
2.0
17 Jan 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People in management are great to work with, product produced in house is good quality, medical insurance is top tier

Cons

Too worried about bottom line, no transparency between departments, incredibly high amount of turnover, low compensation, working managers which prevents you from actually managing, unrealistic expectations, long strenuous hours

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Indiana Packers Response
8y
We appreciate your comments about leadership, product quality, and our medical benefits. Thanks! I'd welcome the opportunity to understand more about the issues you raised. Would you be open to discuss via phone? I can be reached by calling our offices in Delphi, IN. Mark Berry, Vice President, Human Resources
3.0
9 July 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Mindless, repetitive work (on the cold side) that let you pretty much zone out, while maintaining constant engagement. It becomes muscle memory in a matter of weeks. They also have a week of paid orientation followed by a long training period, and everyone is very helpful. It helps that they pay better than anyone around, and all you need in order to work there is a pulse. If you can hang with how hectic and family-splitting the hours are, you can climb the ladder extremely quickly. They also don't drug test unless you're involved in an accident on company time.

Cons

The company likes to take on more than it can handle, leading to things like 16 consecutive weeks of 10 hour days, 6 days a week. The reason everyone is so safety conscious and helpful is because over the course of their 20 something year run, they've been sued many many times for safety practices, death, and dismemberment, and who knows what else. They aren't there to help you; they're there to help you not hurt the company. Quality Assurance is very clique. It's like being in high school. If one decides they don't like you, then they ALL dislike you. If a supervisor or god-forbid a superintendent decides that they don't like you, that's it. You get to keep working there but the whole company will refuse to train you for new certificates. If a supervisor decides they like your work ethic, they will refuse to let you go, and often refuse to even let you rotate out to other duties. Hope you like carpal tunnel

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Indiana Packers Response
6y
Thank you for the feedback. Even when it's not positive, knowing a current team member's perceptions is helpful. Operating a meat processing facility is complicated, given the fact that we have contracts with farmers we have to honor, needs of customers we must consider, and fellow team members we need to respect. The issue is not taking more than we can handle, but rather not being at full staffing (we've added 300+ new positions in the last 15 months and will be adding another 150+ before April 2020) and having a small, but significant group of team members who struggle coming to work consistently. With respect to your comments about safety, you comments simply are not accurate. In fact, we have an exceptional safety record with both our total incidence rate and days away from work being approximately 50% of the industry average. Our safety team is comprised of - almost exclusively - hourly team members who contribute greatly to the success of these efforts. I promise - there's no company-wide conspiracy for team members who have disagreements with their team leader. I would like to know more about your comments regarding promotion and transfer procedures; these are important areas and we're going to be instituting standards with respect to both the process & timing in the coming months. Also, if the rotational process in your department is not being followed, please come talk with me. This is important - and has been - in the realization of the safety results we've achieved over the past several years. Mark Berry, VP, People
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