Siemens

Worked with a bunch of very intelligent people, both in the shop and in the office. The products are very interesting and complex, which always makes the job interesting.

A lot of tribal knowledge. There is a lot of knowledge to learn, but there are also many people looking to retire very soon. The environment within the shop is, "it isn't the operator's fault, it is a breakdown in the process or an oversight on supervision," which creates an atmosphere where some machinists think they walk on water.

Also, compensation could be better. I loved working at Siemens, but once I was recruited (very easily) for more pay, it was hard not to say no, since Siemens wasn't willing to pay me more.

Siemens used to be Westinghouse back in the day, and there are still many employees who used to be Westinghouse employees. A former Westinghouse employee once told me, "You can take Restinghouse (shop slang for Westinghouse) off the front of the building, but you will never get it out of the building."

Get younger blood into the company as fast as possible to learn from the retiring veterans.

Pay your employees more, especially the salaried, who don't get paid overtime but work 60+ hours a week.

Change the culture in the shop to an environment where people are expected to own up to their mistakes and where everyone is responsible for quality and efficiency.