Pros
The pay and benefits are ok.
Cons
The work life balance is non existent. Every week there is a new world ending crisis resulting in countless hours of unpaid overtime, cancelled vacations and emergency phone calls and meetings that could be summed up in an email. The bonus system is arbitrary and bonuses can and will be lowered/cancelled for things that you have little to no control over. This carrot on a stick will keep you there much longer than any reasonable person would stay. The company has essentially bought out and or drove most of its competitors away leaving just JBS and two other companies in their field. If they were ran the way it is now outside of their essential monopoly, the company would go belly up. Poor corporate decision making with little to no foresight or concern as to how it will effect the people who actually do the work. This is the main cause of the only thing that the company is consistent with; a nearly 100% turnover rate. They have a company wide marketing campaign talking about the "JBS Culture Values" this basically boils down to posters eerily reminiscent to WWII propaganda, cult-like involuntary weekend retreats, as well as a yearly review process that has employees write reviews about their coworkers. Beyond the fact that this is in general an absolutely terrible idea in any environment, it's especially heinous in the high stress environment that is the meat processing industry. The process is at best useless; employees " reviewing" people from different departments never having actually worked with the person they are reviewing. At their worst they are nothing more than a popularity contest. Giving people a chance to either praise their friends or write terrible reviews about people who they don't like. The Culture retreats take yet another precious weekend away from your family, while already working 6-7 days a week at the plant level and depending on your department. That's another thing to consider. In the 10 years I was with the company, the "busy season" kept growing until it became year round. Having a weekend off without using vacation time is a pipe dream. In shipping, Saturdays you absolutely will be working every week, and don't make any plans for Sunday because that is up in the air until the end of your shift on Saturday. Salaried employees are compensated less and less for overtime and extra work days. The company can and will make changes to the payment system without notice and your only choices are to accept it or leave. This has led to mostly a company made up of management who have failed their way up the ladder. Most of the good employees leave. The best advice I can give if you already work there or are considering accepting a job offer, is, save as much money as possible while you are there. Take a little time to keep your resume updated and if you are offered a position at a better company, don't hesitate to leave. If you come up with a way to improve the company, keep it to yourself and wait until you find a better company to work for before disclosing it. You can and most likely will be better compensated somewhere else. I would also advise against giving a 2 week notice. When you inevitably leave the company just hand in a resignation letter with an immediate effective date. Upper level management especially will often be unceremoniously walked out of the the building by security after giving notice. So prepare yourself in advance for this if you decide to go that route. In short; if you are looking for mid-range pay and a 60+ hour work week. This is the company for you. If you care more about your family and your own mental health than the average pay/benefits, keep searching. They claim to be a "Family Company" that's because you will see your coworkers far more than your actual family.