Pros
• Opportunity to build global connections and collaborate with colleagues across multiple countries • Strong learning exposure through international teams • All colleagues outside the Ballina office were professional, respectful, and collaborative • Employees in production, warehouse, kitchen, and cleaning at the Ballina site are exceptionally welcoming — friendly, helpful, and always greeting you, creating a genuinely welcoming environment
Cons
• Ballina office-based functions (Supply Chain, Materials Management, and certain planning/customer service teams) displayed a starkly different culture — insular, hierarchical, and resistant to diversity • Hiring, internal mobility, and graduate progression lacked transparency; personal networks often outweighed merit, qualifications, or performance • Raising concerns about exclusionary behavior or inappropriate remarks led to retaliation or worsening work conditions rather than protection • I was excluded from supplier visits, leadership interactions, and high-visibility meetings without justification • Working hours were excessively scrutinized despite approved flexi-time, even when consistently exceeding standard hours • Projects delivering cost savings or operational improvements were blocked without business rationale • Internal transfer requests (e.g., to France) were denied under questionable reasoning, while responsibilities were fragmented and redistributed internationally, contradicting the stated rationale • I witnessed an incident where an employee shouted at an international graduate student who was training him in the open office; no manager intervened. The graduate was later rated “underperforming” and excluded from roles despite repeated applications • After leaving the company and relocating internationally, I was blocked from rehire despite no misconduct, policy breaches, or documented performance issues.