Pros
Christmas break/ shutdown. I would like to write about my great coworkers, but currently most of them have left the company or they are looking elsewhere. My manager is great long term employee, but overwhelmed with 15+ direct reports. Probably a good place for older employees to wind down their career and retire in the Chicago area.
Cons
Currently a depressing atmosphere and still as of 2015 not recovering. I thought the bottom was reached about 1 year ago but we keep getting negative announcements. Melrose Facility no longer has a cafeteria. Hundreds of empty desks in both Lisle and Melrose means you're literally running the skeleton crew. Some labs were constructed in 2012 but never finished. Front of the building construction ceased 2 years ago and remains without walls and vacant. People leaving every day and things are getting worse. Promotions were once possible, but constant reorganization means opportunities are getting cut at every quarter. Many managers lost their direct reports so opportunity for leadership experience is nill. Pay is not competitive, particularly considering the Chicago area. I actually got a job offer at another company for $10k more pay, in the state of Michigan which has a much lower cost of living. I was a very hard working employee from 2009-2012. Each year, I looked forward to work, worked late , gained responsibility, etc but never got more than a 3 on my TPM. I would frequently log more than 50 hours per week in the past. My manager once told me that the TPM score was not a result of effort. For the past 2 years, I have just been doing the absolute minimum amount of work and still get the same 3 on my TPM. I probably should have gotten a 4 or 5 in the past, but now I have no motivation and still get the same score as I did in the past. TPM very ineffective system when you can't reward truly hard working employees. Did I mention the news headlines on Navistar?