Pros
The people are great. The pay is ok relative to the cost of living (Chillicothe, OH). Work life balance (depending on your department).
Cons
Opportunities for advancement: The company's HQ is in Kirkland, WA where the products are designed and engineered. Being this far way from the plant creates kind of an us verses them culture between the plant and HQ. This culture can be seen in how decisions are made and who gets promoted. If you're an engineer at this location and you want to remain and in engineering, there are not many opportunities for advancement. The only way to get ahead is to go to production and move up the ranks by managing people. If you're lucky, someone will retire and the people below him/her will be promoted, giving you a chance applying for a low level management position. Some management positions at the plant are EXCLUSIVELY for people that come from Kirkland. They are used as rotational positions to get them used to plant operations. While this makes sense on paper, it can leave some employees feeling trapped in dead end jobs. Culture: Engineers don't seem to be valued here. A lot of production managers don't have technical backgrounds and they tend to make decisions that make no sense. Part of that probably has to do with the pressure that they receive from their managers, but it's difficult to feel bad for them when they preach one thing and do another. Example: In the past several years there has been a big push to implement a LEAN/6 Sigma culture at the plant. This works great at the beginning of the month, but as soon as end of month/quarter comes, the same managers that are preaching 6 Sigma will throw all of that out the window. The only thing that matters then is production numbers. They will gladly build an incomplete product that and has to be towed off the assembly line if it means adding another truck to their end of month numbers. This product will then be completed offline, bypassing several process controls, using overtime labor. Speaking of 6 Sigma, it's pretty much a joke. If you're looking to get some 6 sigma experience to put on a resume, good luck. It's basically a glorified savings calculator here. Work-life balance: If you work in resident engineering, your work life balance will be relatively good. You can expect to work 7am-3:30pm. The exception to this is if you're one of the few people with electrical knowledge. You will most likely have to work overtime to fix programming or electrical issues that arise when trucks are built without having all the required parts. If you work in the manufacturing engineering department, your work life balance will depend on if you have any projects. Most engineers in this department can expect to work several weekends through out the year and almost everyone works a few days during the 2 week long plant shutdown that occurs during Christmas/New Year. Location: There's not much to do in Chillicothe. Pay: The pay is below industry average for engineers, but most people from the Chillicothe area don't have many other employment options that pay as well as Kenworth. Raises are also terrible. The Chairman: This guy is crazy. He has an unwritten rule about facial hair that he tried to enforce one day. He basically told people with facial hair to go home and only come back once they have shaved. He also has a thing against colored thumbtacks. Colored thumbtacks are not allowed; only clear thumbtacks are permitted. There are other stories about him that I can't remember. I'm sure you can find some in other reviews.