PCA Reviews

Former Employee – worked at PCA as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Lot of good supervisors. Experience a lot as a co-op. They give you as much as you handle, with support along the way.

I had tons of projects and worked with a large variety of people: operators, electricians, pipe fitters, supervisors ... ect. At the mill that I worked at (Tomohawk) I had projects in the many areas: power house, wood yard, pulping sector, 2 paper machines and waste water treatment plant.

Cons – Even the negatives helped increase my learning experiences. Biggest thing was getting used to dealing with the amount of people that have to approve even the smallest things.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at PCA full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Great corporate culture, treat employees as people, not numbers, from plant level to upper management. Opportunites for growth and continuing education. Great salaries and benefits, as to be expected from a Fortune 500 company. Also reward dedicated employees with generous annual bonuses.

Cons – Occasionly, some management can seem stuffy to someone not used to a Fortune 500 company environment.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep doing what you're doing! You have a true focus on your employees, which is rare to find in today's corporate america.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at PCA full-time for more than a year

Pros – Simple to learn, good pay, good insurance

Cons – Autocratic management, can work weekends on short notice

Advice to Senior Management – Use less of a iron fist approach to managing and more of a supportive roll.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at PCA full-time for less than a year

Pros – Active, team work, good management, good pay, benefits and overtime if you need it.

Cons – No opportunity to advance or move up in the company.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep doing what your doing, great job.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at PCA full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great pay, great benefits, safety is #1 and they mean it, bonus 2 weeks before Christmas is a huge plus

Cons – No room to move up in company, disiplinary actions are usually slaps on the wrist, don't regularly drug test employees who work on heavy machinery

Advice to Senior Management – Treat your employees like employees, not your friend. You can be friends with them outside of work.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at PCA

Pros – Decent pay, Vacation, and personal time off.

Cons – Poor 401k plan, pay freeze, some managment unfairly balance work expectations between favorites.

Advice to Senior Management – 401k plan needs alot of improvment (ie. 6% maching for all employees salaried and hourly). Supervisors need to work for a common goal professionally. Higher managment needs to have more of a personal role in plant floor operations on all shifts to better recognize which employees carry good work ethic and the company. Make your own conclusions about employees instead of relying on supervisors. Hard work and dedication should be premise for advancement and not the amount of common intrests and unproductive conversion you hold with your superior.

Current Employee – been working at PCA

Pros – Employees are long-tenured, know their jobs and customers well and treat others with respect. People are always willing to listen to others' ideas and implement win-win solutions. Management expects people to give something like time to the company when required but they give that time back when employees need it. A newer generation of management has been coming up and they are more approachable than past management. Box plant management is friendly and is concerned about relationship building.

Cons – Conservatve approach to acquiring others. Would like to see more investment in more geographical areas in order to grow the footprint. A lot of mill focus, i.e., cost side. Would like to see more revenue opportunities. Prima-donnas are tolerated.

Advice to Senior Management – Would recommend management get out from behind barriers more and mingle/talk with employees. That is beginning to happen now. Would like to see more of that. Cool it on the nepotism. Gives the appearance that in order to be successful you need to have the right last name.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at PCA

Pros – -Good Coworkers
-Ability to take on projects

Cons – -Serious Work Life Balance issues
-Lack of direction at times

Former Employee – worked at PCA

Pros – Friendly people, not a lot of office politics, hands-on environment. Everyone is fairly accessible and helpful. Managers are understanding and employees are always willing to help and teach.

Cons – Manufacturing comes with a lot of drawbacks, such as long hours when a piece of equipment is down, or high stress due to contractor failure.

Advice to Senior Management – The salaried employees should get more benefits, as during the long shut downs they do not get adequately compensated for 110 hour work weeks.

Current Employee – been working at PCA

Pros – -Culture is the Golden Rule and the management practices what it preaches.
-chance to grow internally
-can make lots of money in sales
-very good training for employees
-the company recognizes and celebrates the employees

Cons – -in sales, if one does not have the relationships to bring over, or does not grow by the millions in the first 2 years, it is hard to make a living.

Advice to Senior Management – None - I am totally satisfied with my Los Angeles management team.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend