Pros
Benchmark is an excellent environment for newbies and fresh graduates to learn the industry. There is an incredible revolving door of diverse projects and customers. The culture at the local branch (I have no experience with other divisions) has been very good. Bosses and HR are generally very kind and helpful and ride the line between expecting a great deal from their employees while also trusting them to do their jobs in a professional and self-managed manner, which gives coworkers a greater ability to take ownership of their tasks, projects, and responsibilities. While Benchmark has, in the past, had a good eye for talent, they have an extraordinary eye for coworkers who have a good disposition, are honest, and will improve and maintain a good culture. In the past many years of my employ, I have always enjoyed waking up to badge into this division. Good work ethic and attitude did not go unrewarded. Coworkers are appreciative and kind to one another, and there is always a thrill in working closely with high caliber customers on new and interesting technical problems. Their tuition reimbursement plan is an excellent offering and incentive for coworkers to advance in their careers, which coworkers are encouraged to do. A coworker who would like to expand their horizons or change job descriptions need not leave the company. Internal applications are given preferential treatment and HR is happy to guide employees to find their perfect fit. In the past, employees were given opportunity based on their capabilities rather than a strict adherence to listed job qualifications. This beautiful policy has yielded some of the best engineers with whom I have had the pleasure of working. I have heard it said that often times, a corporation will 'wine and dine' a candidate, so to speak. At the interview, they may show only the good and sweep all of the bad into a closet for the new hire to slowly realize over his first few weeks of employment. This has not been my experience. My good perception of Benchmark did not change from my first week and over many years. This particular branch was previously its own independently owned manufacturing plant. When Benchmark acquired it, many of the old employees stayed behind. This gives the culture a local hometown flavor that has not quite yet been sterilized by corporate policies and consolidation. In fact, I cannot recall the number of times over the years where I have been visiting with friends who love to complain about their jobs when I simply could not muster up a foul work about Benchmark. It really has been a pleasure.
Cons
The past two years of COVID era combined with a new CEO has not been kind to this division. A new 'ONE Benchmark' vision designed to consolidate culture and cooperation under the corporate banner is slowly, but effectively, wiping out the individuality and local heart that endeared this division to me. Unique works of employee wall art have been replaced with sterile corporate stencils spouting virtuous vision slogans devised by focus groups like a solution shark in search of problem prey. Loss prevention measures and increasingly bizarre diversity and inclusion training seem designed to make every coworker feel simultaneously like less of a person and more of a set of attributes, and preemptively guilty of criminality. The pay at Benchmark is a step lower than many other similar plants. I have always understood that acquiring contracts requires being the lowest bidder and do not hold bitterness for this. COVID has exacerbated this issue somewhat. There were no raises for 2020, the company has ceased 401K matching, and with the rise of inflation, an adequate cost of living increase would need to be larger than any merit raise I have ever received in the past. Put simply, after years of study and tens of thousands of dollars, and years of loyal service; Benchmark wages are fighting a steady losing battle against the rising cost of living, with each raise equating to a pay cut. This has contributed to massive turnover rate and exponential increases in coworker workload, leading to a highly stressful work environment. Finally, the great dehumanizing tentacles of the corporate umbrella have not finished rending on the culture of our branch. HR has been instructed to take copies of all vaccine cards. Those who are willing to present a card will have a sticker fixed to their work badge which indicates they are 'exempt' from masking. Employees which are not vaccinated or who do not wish to surrender medical privacy to Benchmark will have no sticker and must mask. Furthermore, proof of vaccination is required for all company-related travel. This removes the illusion of choice for coworkers who travel as part of their job description. This is a drastic deviation from the honesty-based policy previously in place and (based on my discourse with other employees) will lead to greater employee retention issues, poor satisfaction, and division among coworkers.
