Volvo Car USA Reviews

Pros

cool, work life balance, benefits

Cons

changes, frequent changes, coping up with that

Pros

The pay and progression is more than what I’ve seen for other companies. I like my supervisor. Corporate values. Non-Union in Charleston. Opportunity for growth. Paid leave for child birth. People are great when they aren’t exhausted. Medical on site. Site is secure. Smoking Areas. Free coffee. Team leads and some supervisors are supportive and will work with you.

Cons

Long hours make it difficult to pick my children up without being late. Numbers seem to matter more than employees. HR does little to mitigate conflict. Very militant environment (anything can get you in trouble, like having your cell phone in your pocket, or using your cell phone without being stationary, and it seems outside management won’t stay in their lane). Long hours are very common, working 50-58 hours per... week for months. Seniority does not seem to matter to HR, as temps can act completely rude and your work and progression is recognized very little. The points system is very unbalanced with the hours we work. No separate sick leave from PTO, and you are charged PTO if you have it and you call in sick or need to leave early unscheduled.

Advice to Management

Remember what was sold to every employee, Volvo is supposed to be a people company. It is a numbers company in Charleston unless you work in the office. Every job has ups and downs, and the downs are outweighing the ups, and it shows from the retention rate. Work on keeping employees, not cycling them and replacing them.

Pros

Great team environment enforced by management

Cons

Very layed back. More than I like

Pros

Long hours equal more money, that is a con too. Nice people, but they are getting angry daily Potential union, which i do not believe in but this location needs it. Clean locker rooms to shower in Smoking is not allowed everywhere Free coffee

Cons

Everything, no communication, little direction and we make vehicles for no one. I mean, i was fooled by the Swedish people when they said this will be a culture to stay. If you think about working here for anything other than the money, do not do it. Before you sign on, go look at the parking lot, 8,000 vehicles made, 6,000 in the parking lot that cannot be sold. Joke HR is not existent, no policies for a year... since i was hired. How many days can i miss, not sure i guess it is up to my supervisor. When i left there was still no policy book and we all just printed random information off the online site. Not sure if it is even real. What a joke.

Advice to Management

Communicate Get real Do not be an idealist, be a realist Listen to your team Be approachable Listen Learn Be nice and treat people as they are not idiots. I know i work in a factory, no education, but do not treat me like i am sum. Seriously Present me a revision of a policy book Smile and pretend like your happy, cause we on the line are not and could use the motivation. Do not work me long hours for... cars that cannot be sold Do not lie to me at noon, saying i am working until 5:40, make accommodations for my children, then at 2:30 tell me we do not have parts an cannot make the cars that no one will buy. AGH get it togther. More to say, just very sad about changing my life for an empty promise.

Pros

Work environment, pay, benefits cost

Cons

Long hours, work life balance

Pros

There are not any pros to working for this Company

Cons

High insurance and long hours. Need to be on call for superiors

Advice to Management

Listen to your employees

Pros

Free cars at higher levels of the organization

Cons

Extremely disorganized leadership that treat people with little to no respect in the way that employees are spoken to and treated- you feel completely disposable and taken advantage of. The culture is very toxic and instead of leadership looking to adapt to the U.S. culture, it's about trying to recreate Swedish culture in the U.S., which leads to various initiatives and processes being rolled out that make zero... sense in a U.S. context and where we are just doing them for leadership's political agenda and to look like they are "globalizing" Volvo, but actually they are forcing a Swedish agenda without any regard for or desire to understand what could work best in this market. Often times leaders and expats that are brought over to the U.S. in senior positions are done so because there are no other jobs for them in Sweden, leaving the U.S. with very weak, incompetent and expensive Swedish leaders. This leaves very few senior-level positions available for local American employees to grow in or aspire to. Additionally they are constantly speaking in Swedish in the office, leaving Americans out of the conversation completely. This company used to feel like a family to me but has since become unrecognizable- beyond my worst imaginable nightmares.

Advice to Management

Treat people with respect and try to understand the culture that you are a part of. Invest in your culture and people and make some bold leadership changes.

Pros

Stepping stone to get experience on a resume.

Cons

Leadership is driving to failure. Becoming a toxic environment and managers blame everyone else for problems. Many unqualified managers/leaders.

Advice to Management

Listen and learn. Being a manager or director or VP doesn’t make you right. Take suggestions from your teams.