tool and die maker

technical sales manager

production associate

maintenance mechanic

maintenance electrician

Oregon Tool

I worked at Oregon tool Guelph for a year and a half. Loved the job. Provided decent money, great benefits, RRSP match, premiums for shifts and straight shifts. The job isn't difficult either.

Now the negative. A year and a half ago, as a lot of manufacturing places had and have been doing, oregon started to mass hire due to covid and boomer retirement. Oregon overestimated their demand, so they say, and as such, after pushing us to work as much overtime as possible to make numbers and deadlines, took a massive step backwards, decreasing targets dramatically, and ultimately shuttering an entire shift and laying off the vast majority of their work force for the department encompassing half their plant. We had continuous meetings telling us everything was going to be ok and that they were going to support us. These "light at the end of the tunnel" comments remained right up until layoffs. 

Additionally, the plant manager only has 9 or so months in and during that time, things have gotten progressively worse at an exponential rate. It may very well not be his fault, but when asked multiple different questions looking for answers or input, his response is always "I don't know".

So, it's a great place to work, but my confidence in Oregon tool being a secure employer is completely gone. So keep that in mind if they start hiring again.

Flexible shifts there frequently canceled leaving people laid off. Laid off with less than 1 week notice. The company is not transparent and honest with their employees. Lots of saftey violations. Working around moving parts. Unhealthy exposure  and toxins in the workplace.  They do not rotate jobs and you can be stuck doing a very repetitive heavy lifting jobs daily for months before options of cross training. Lots of favoritism withing management and clicks withing management that there is no room for growth aside from "multifunctional team memeber" had a family member hurt themselves almost 20 years ago from Guelph location and still hurting people on the job from the old machines and lack of saftey. Every year they go through lay offs. Company doesn't especially bad now and is going under. Stay clear

What is the best part of working at the company?
Best place I have ever worked. Great training, excellent co-workers and an even better facility. Highly recommend working here if you get the chance. Shame it had a downturn in business.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Uncertainty of future business prospects 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Clean work environment, organized well for safety and efficiency. Always room to grow within the company and they are willing to coach to take the necessary steps

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Start-up like typically like anywhere else, progressing on current orders. Any changes will be communicated.

It’s a good company with good people. 
Company as a whole is good but frequent layoffs. Job security is not strong here and there is very little opportunity to move up although they’ll tell you that there is. 

If you get put in their chain department you’ll absolutely love it here. State of the art equipment, lean manufacturing, very very easy work on the body but requires a bit of brain power. 

If you get put in their bar department it’s very hot due to their furnaces. The job is extremely strenuous and tough on your body. There is always a push from your micromanaging supervisor to the point where you’re constantly harassed and stressed out. 

When I was hired the company was ramping up production.
Within 4 months I was shuffled off to another area as where I was hired to work production bottomed out.
And kept going down.  There were layoffs.  The employees who were left were laid off fora few months.
Meanwhile, the other area was paying overtime like crazy.
Then that area started going down.
There were layoffs.  Then they hired.  Then they laid off all the new hires.
Then anyone with less than 5 years seniority.
Some people were amazing.  Some were not.  

They just hired us 3 weeks ago. Total training period was 6 weeks. We are 23 people at the time of orientation,  and they give layoffs to 17 people after 3 week of hire. They are telling after 3 weeks. " Our business need changed ." They are playing game with us like cards. If they don't won't then why they hire? Management was very poor, HR are also new, they don't know anything.They can hire you when they want, they can fired you when the work finishes. Very worst experience. Not recommended at all. Very very toxic work environment.


Was good when it was Blount, lots of changes over the years. Not all bad changes, still issues with manegment and transparence . Friendly and knowlagable workers. Talented off shift employees often over looked when it comes to helping operations change and evolve . Often leaning more towards the dayshift that lacks knowledge of the jobs and detail . Possibly one day it could change for the better, but i feel they are headed the other direction which is truely sad. 

pros
good pay, great people

cons
some manegment and supervisors are not the right fit

some jobs are heavy and repetative 




Good pay and benefits with reasonable management; but has been experiencing department layoffs and cuts in pay recently. You have the opportunity for rapid pay scale increases within your first year based on performance, and they will pay for schooling if you get prior approval to attend. Constant in house hiring and promotion opportunities as well.

RSI is a serious risk in some departments, due to no real work rotation and poor ergonomics. There can be a lack of accountability between shifts, depending on the departments.

They run this company with emotions. If you are not good with juggling your heavy workload and managing people's emotions, do not apply to this company. Very toxic and less pay. Unnecessarily busy doing nothing which overall makes the company less productive. If you are looking for a temporary job for survival, it may be a good place for you. DO NOT consider this place for a permanent role, they will mess with your mental health. 

After working for one specific large manufacturing company in Guelph, the switch to Oregon Tool gave me whiplash. Management is transparent and competent, safety is taken seriously, and they talk to me like I'm an actual person. I could go on for an hour or more about how awful my previous employer was, but I have a hard time finding problems at Oregon Tool.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Tool and die maker 2 salaries reported	$38.13 per hour
Technical sales manager 2 salaries reported	$95,000 per year
Production associate 1 salary reported	$27.00 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 1 salary reported	$36.50 per hour
Maintenance electrician 2 salaries reported	$36.50 per hour

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