Gerdau Ameristeel Reviews

Pros

Great coworkers, good life work balance. Safety is a big thing here. In fact their budget makes up most of the spending the company does on one department.

Cons

Company rarely trains old employees to do new things. Observation is they would rather lay off workers and hire trained people from the outside. Budgets are always tight which impedes new projects.

Company makes decisions based on EBITDA only. If a location doesn't make enough money to justify its existence, its gone. Very cold approach to business decisions.

Advice to Senior Management

Trust the staff you have, train the staff you have. We're professionals and want to be treated like professionals.

Pros

Good pay if you have a lot of experiene and if you know a lot of positions. Great benefits and a good yearly bonus check.

Cons

The Work Environment isnt the greatest. The shop is usually whatever temperature it is outside. A lot of physical labor but at least you get your excersice.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat all employees equally and fairly and don't hide information about the work. A lot of cuts have been made and it would be nice to know you have some job security

Pros

Met some nice co-workers over the years,from a previous buy-out of Enco Materials,and a few Gerdau employees,the pay was average

Cons

no leadership,need to focus on the customer more,not painting lines on the floor,you dont know who your boss is, your manager or the safety guy at your location?being in a management position they want you to wear to many hats

Advice to Senior Management

hope you make better choices in the future!!

Pros

Management treats people ok.
There is a strong comiment to Safety.
They are working to provide better operator training.
They work hard to celebrate and recognize new programs, changes and improvements by providing shirts, meals, etc.

Cons

Big promotions are reserved for young Brazilians who show up out of nowhere and Americans are left in holding patterns. The hiring process for these jobs is really a front at the local level because it is already determined in Tampa or Brazil.

The people on the floor are angry about the changes in the Partners in Performance pay system that was down graded through raising the requirements and not being aligned with the generous systems at other Gerdau plants.

Advice to Senior Management

Corporate Gerdau crushes local management productivity by overloading their plates with cookie cutter programs, cookie cutter trainings, cookie cutter goals, etc. The goals are put in place by coroporate then local tries to find things that could fit the goals that may not be so relevant to their situation.

Pros

The pay is decent and the benefits are pretty good

Cons

Poor management, do not honor core values, put customer service at the bottom of their priority list, break down of job responsibilities that turn you into a one task machine, too many decisions made for personal feelings or gain even if they are not in the best interest of the company

Advice to Senior Management

Hire more workers, less management, you are top heavy. Earn your paycheck by working for the company, not your personal gain.

Pros

Senior management had a long-term approach to the companies strategic direction making them slow to take rash actions in the event of an economic downturn.

Cons

The corporate office attempted to micro-manage the operations but generally lacked the industrial experience to do this from afar. Also they did not realize the load they were putting on operations on-top of their everyday task of making steel.

Pros

Family owned company with good benefits, nice culture, good people. Management listens and is working on continual improvement. Strong financially and good community relations.

Cons

Pay is not the best.
Rapid growth has spawned effectiveness issues (which are being addressed).

Advice to Senior Management

Keep on the current path.

Pros

Pay, Pay, Benefits, Team environment

Cons

Long Hours, Long Hours Dirty,

Pros

Benefits and good environment to work

Cons

Too much pressure sometimes and lack of management knowhow

Advice to Senior Management

More resources needed.

Pros

Gerdau is a large company with a long history in the steel industry. They offer good pay and benefits. The company thinks long term, so they are in a good position to survive market changes.

Cons

Jacksonville Mill is making BIG adjustments as it learns to get in-line with corporate business philosophy. This is causing so many changes that management has difficulty planning. Employees are often confused and frustrated due to this lack of planning.

Advice to Senior Management

Change is good, but too much can leave people feeling a bit overwhelmed. Slow down and ensure that you are communicating the change, and ensuring the results are positive.