There used to be a company motto that stated "Our associates are our most important asset". Well guess what happens when you stop investing in your most important asset? People used to ask how they could get hired into Denso, now all they say is "I heard you work a lot of overtime". We are facing a double edged sword - we can't get people to work here because of the massive amount of overtime, so it means more overtime for the people that do work here. I was in a "get to know you" meeting with our production manager and he basically said that Denso is not a good place to work if you're raising a family. I was surprised to hear this from a manager, but I don't at all disagree. There used to be a sense of the management looking out for the associates best interest, but it's all about doing whatever they have to get the product out the door. We're run more like a Chrysler or Ford than a Toyota or Honda plant. They're using gimmicks to try and get people in the door, but until they take a long, hard look at why people don't want to work here (overtime, company scheduled vacation, hard to get vacation time, no more team building activities), they are going to struggle to get associates. The only reasons that I have stayed as long as I have is that I'm currently on a team that doesn't work a lot of overtime, I get 4 weeks vacation a year and I'm at the top of the pay scale. If we go into more overtime, I'll be looking elsewhere - even if means a pay cut and less vacation. The work-life balance just isn't worth it.
