machine operator

Skyjack

I worked there for almost 2 years. The air quality is so smokey and toxic that I worried about my health everyday. Even when I showered after work, my skin still smelt like chemicals. It takes anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes to get to your locker or break room (depending on which department you work in), so really your 15 minute break is closer to a 5 minute break and your 20 minute lunch break is closer to a 10 minute one. It was the most stressful job I've ever worked. They lay off people all the time and love to hire people from other countries who don't know any better and have no work experience in Canada to compare to. In my station, I worked with two deaf guys and another man who knew very little English, making my job even harder to do because of communication issues. Whenever we had a solid, coordinated team who knew the station well, my boss would split us up and get other guys to work the station who hadn't even learned it before. Very frustrating, as I always had to pick up the slack for the coworkers learning the station. My boss never took responsibility for her mistakes and just shifted blame on everyone else, even when the issues were related to her poor decision making. She spoke with such a thick accent that we could hardly understand her and she always gave orders in Vietnamese to the other vietnamese employees, ignoring me when she could so I would then have to ask my coworker to translate what she just instructed for me. As a person, I liked her very much but as a boss, she was the worst I've ever had. After working there for nearly two years, one day I came back from the washroom and was told I was supposed to ask to go to the washroom (even though I nor anyone else ever had to do that before!). I wasn't willing to be treated like a school boy needing permission to go to the washroom so I quit. My soul was pulling me towards the exit everyday anyway, so it was the push I needed to go through with it and walk out. The only thing that kept me there for as long as I did was because I was desperate for money. I'd rather be poor and struggling financially then work there again. In conclusion, stay away from this toxic, stressful, soul crushing job unless you are extremely desperate!

No where to move up. Supervisors turn blind eyes to drug and alcohol abuse with there employees. They push employees 6 days a week, all year so they can lay them off in September, once making annual targets. They provide a BBQ in August employees referred to as "the last meal" and come around with a clip board the next week, like the last 6 months was a tryout for a team. It's a high school environment, filled with plenty of rumours and brown nosing. The cafeteria lady is a Gem, and the food is actually very good. The plant manager(a great guy who is well respected by many) was caught joking around with an office employee on social media claiming they worked with "crayon eating window lickers" and halted the shift to apologize once they became aware employees found out. Employees were so offended by the situation, they brought in packages of crayons the next day to the Pre-shift meeting. I watched an employee lose his leg in a careless forklift accident. The air is blue from weld fumes. I served a 3 year sentence at SkyJail and saw a lot of shady things in the management, and in the shop. Just a paycheque. They did produce the best scissor lifts in the world, which was interesting for about a month. This place will drain you. Good pay. No other reason to be there, other than a handful of great employees to work with. I felt the need to succeed in life and had to depart in order to learn more skills for the industry. My longest weld in the 3 years of working here was on my CWB plate test when It expired. I asked for years to learn a new position and my supervisor basically laughed at me for those years. I laugh when I walk by a skyjack in public now, and think of the great times joking with employees about how much we hated this place, the management, not to mention the politics

The work is very interesting with plenty to learn however job security is non existant with a dismal history of layoffs and let go's.  
Too many supervisors carry a I'm your boss and your way below me attitude and will take every opportunity to negatively reprimand you verbally and with written notices purposely to keep in your personnel file.   This is a common theme there with most of the supervisors  creating a toxic environment to work in always worried about getting in trouble for something like keeping a open can or bottle of water or  in your work area or taking too long to complete your job even wearing a baseball cap that isn't the company's name only or not cleaning your area for every minute of the 10 minutes required or going to change 1 minute earlier than the 5 minutes to buzzer any reason they'll  write you up giving the company justified reasoning should they go through one of their regular business slow downs and wish to terminate or lay you off without legal ramifications should you wish to report or file a wrongful dismal claim.

All the old guys are untouchable princesses who complain and moan more than they work daily. They take their self hate out on you every second and think they are entitled to yell, swear, bully anyone they dont like. Its run by children who look up to these bullies like daddy figures even though they make twice as much. Training is 0 they claim to be with times but they are 15 years behind in health safety and conflict resolution. Not enough room for forklifts and the old guys drive like they own the isles and think they own the dock and wherehouse. Work areas are cramped and dangerous. It's either too hot or too cold and very very very very smoky. The entire factory is filled with weld fumes dust and smoke. Floors are wet roofs leak and it is stuffed to the roof and isles with none of the parts you need. HR does buck all about harassment, threats to personal saftey or being made to work outside with no coat or enclosed cab for hours mid winter or rain and lightning.

Nice place to work As a shipper at Skyjack’s Guelph facility, my experience was generally positive and focused on teamwork, safety, and efficiency. The work environment is fast-paced, especially during peak production hours, but the processes are well organized. I was responsible for preparing outgoing shipments, verifying packing lists, operating RF scanners, and assisting with loading trucks using forklifts when required. Supervisors were approachable and provided clear instructions, which made it easier to maintain accuracy in daily tasks. Safety procedures were taken seriously, and proper training was given before handling equipment. Some days could be physically demanding, especially with heavy lifting and tight deadlines, but the team support helped manage the workload. Overall, it was a good learning experience for improving warehouse and logistics skills. I would recommend it for anyone looking to gain entry-level logistics experience. The job helped me understand real-world shipping and receiving operations better with strong emphasis on safety protocols.

My experience with Skyjack was overwhelmingly negative. my line was new, everyone brought in was young, UN-educated, unmotivated and unwilling to work at a consistent pace. Tools were poorly supplied (or not supplied at all.) and injuries were occurring constantly (worst injury over the year resulted in amputation of a leg.) 

After 6 months of me doing everything in my power to get noticed they promoted a kid who had no experience in a factory, who avidly avoided hard work the entire time,  and came in on drugs multiple times (he was later demoted for doing drugs on company property with 2 of his employees.) 

I was pushed out of the company by false write ups over errors that didn't happen. (they said I missed something, I had a specific mark for which was present, they then switched paperwork and moved the machines out of view as to not get caught.)

Enjoyed the job and the ability to advance my skills. Most staff were very nice. Management was okay but could have been better. I felt that was due to large number of employee's that they were responsible for. Wages were very good. Wish I had the opportunity to continue with the company. Was great to learn how the product was made. Also learned how to run the production lines as I covered for staff breaks. Being a factory it was loud and very dirty but it didn't bother me. I did enjoy my time with Skyjack only wish it was permanent. Opportunity to earn more money with mandatory overtime for 9 months of the year. Special occasions celebrated with the staff and occasionally free lunches.

Extremely high turnover. There is no work life balance, employees are expected to work every Saturday and made to use personal days or vacation days if you decline. 

Nepotism runs rampant within the organization and one will see the VPs family at all levels of the organization and untouchable on the floor. Supervisors have immediate family reporting to them on the floor too.

Management is not open to change, shortages cause building problems, but building machines continue.

No training or onboarding provided

High turnover - at all levels, operators, supervisors, generals, engineers, quality and even the entire HR team.

The plant (P2) is relatively clean and the atmosphere is good, however the winter months it’s gets cold inside the plant as machines are constantly being moved in or out.

I worked here 8 years. 7 as a welder which there is a pay ceiling, applied for quality job and after 1 year quit. Upper management are tyrants. Management is full of it and are only trying to make everything look good so upper management can stop yelling at them. And the supervisors are too busy trying to hit the quota so they can still get there bonus to actually supervise anyone so quality is poor and training is even more so. Departments are too busy yelling and blaming each other so it’s a constant fight and nothing gets better because of this. Upper management has made this place stressful to work in and no one is happy or proud working here. I realized this after one year of being in the office. Also they will make you work as many weekends as legally possible to make up for the lack of manpower due to high turnover

Management did not care about issues at all, advancement is near impossible, no communication between different lines, you are not given enough break time, the company will always take a mangers word over yours, you are blamed for not meeting the quota even if it is not your fault (for example most shifts there were not enough parts available to complete manufacturing of the products, which was not our job however we were blamed for it, If anything it would be management’s fault for not running the line correctly but management is never held accountable they would much rather blame workers.) management did not do their job to begin with our manager was never around during the shift and we would only see them once or twice per shift. The training is on site and you are expected to learn faster than humanly possible. 

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