They say misery loves company. They made a company, and made misery- Frustrated Incorporated. That's Shaw Industries.
Pros
I have a job. I'm not homeless. I can pay my bills... sorta. It gives me lots of good material to scare my daughter into doing good in school and going to college, even if I have no idea how I will ever be able to pay for her to go.
Cons
Long hours. No breaks. No joke. Georgia doesn't have any laws that state employers have to give employees breaks and Shaw will tell you this. They have a break system on file and everyone in HR believes employees get breaks, but go sit down in the break room and see how long it takes for a supervisor to come SCREAMING at you to get back on the floor. We get a raise every 2-3 years that usually averages about a quarter, but our insurance goes up every year. They only pay $0.25 on the dollar (up to 6%) on their 401k. There is absolutely no bonuses, for hourly employees at least. For Christmas they have started giving us a Christmas tree shaped Little Debbie cake that says "Happy Holidays" on the wrapper. Not joking. Before that it was nothing. Since 2009, they have cut MANY positions there. People have taken on more and more responsibilities with even less help than they had before and no additional compensation for the extra duties. Then on top of that, they mandatory you to work on your days off because they don't have enough people to cover jobs. It is HOT in there. You think a Georgia summer is hot when you're out at the pool? Go into a big tin building with hundreds of machines going non-stop and it will literally take your breath away when you walk in the door. Even after 10 years I still get a rising panic I have to fight down when I walk in the door when that heat blasts you in the face and you know there is no getting out of it for the next 12 hours. It takes a lot of mental conditioning. Twelve hour shifts will eat you're life away; especially if you're working nights. There is no social life anymore. I'm writing this at 2:40 AM and this is midday for me. You spend half you're life working for a company that doesn't even care about you. Human Resources treat you like a child. They act as if everyone that comes in to see them barely has the brain capacity to keep breathing on their own. They think they know more about your job than you do when they absolutely refuse to go out on the floor. They even moved the job bid sheets into HR so they wouldn't have to go out on the floor to collect them anymore. When you go in to see them after working a 12 hour shift, they leave you sitting out there while they catch up on gossip and get their morning coffee going. They don't even acknowledge you (even tho they walk by you several times) until they are ready to talk to you about your problem and then all the smiles disappear and as cold as they can they ask "Can I help you?" <insert exasperated tone>