NewPage Reviews

Current Employee – been working at NewPage full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – In a very low cost of living area, NewPage offers employees at the Luke mill some of the best wages per hour for their hourly employees.

Cons – The biggest issue NewPage faces is the current status of the paper industry. Constant cutbacks in spending and employment have plagued the mill for several years. Very little of the money generated is reinvested back into the company.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on making money. Don't be afraid to admit you don't know or understand something and allow the people who have worked the job for 30 years do it.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at NewPage full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great Benefits, Wonderful Health Program

Cons – The only con is the recent bankruptcy.

Advice to Senior Management – Exploration of employee's talents is strongly recommended.

Former Employee – worked at NewPage

Pros – Stable employer
Great sales team
Value and encourage team-work (regardless of department)
Community involvement
Work / life balance
Wellness programs
Knowledgeable & experienced senior management team

Cons – Lack of career development - ie: managers - they manage more than develop their reports.
no formal mentoring programs
Typical office politics
Pay is frequently at industry minimums
Management needs more engagement with people doing the day to day jobs

Advice to Senior Management – Career development - Implement a formal mentoring program; Push to learn each employee's career aspirations and update that information / understanding on a regular basis; additionally offer insight from management's perspective on potential opportunities based on their views of the individual's strengths, weaknesses and aspirations.
Implement "Employee Engagement" surveys, at least bi-annually, to determine employee satisfaction - level of challenge, rate of pay, opportunity for growth, etc.

– I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at NewPage full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great six sigma culture that drives improvement and change as well as strong emphasis on customer satisfaction. Employee morale is positive as NewPage continues to meet sales and profit goals, receive bonus payouts, and maintain market share. NewPage has a consistent practice of promoting from within.

Cons – The recession made it really hard to invest in employee development for from 2009 to 2011.

Advice to Senior Management – Expand college recruiting and employment development programs so that more supervisory/management positions at the mills can be filled internally.

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

Current Employee – been working at NewPage full-time for less than a year

Pros – -The company culture is wonderful. NewPage is a large advocate of Safety and Wellness
-NewPage has strong values that they actually strive to live and work by
-Work/life balance is important to the company
-Positive outlook towards the future of the company

Cons – -The paper industry itself and its viability
-Debt

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

Current Employee – been working at NewPage

Pros – Culture
Honesty
Communication from Leadership
Integrity
Management
Fast moving change culture

Cons – Industry
Debt
Long term viability of print
Paper
Pring

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at NewPage

Pros – Close-knit organization. A real can-do attitude about everything. Works hard to communicate and do the right thing. Awesome treatment of military vets. Multiple mills provides variety of culture and landscape.

Cons – Short term focus causes conflicting goals with no sense for what is most important. The result is too many initiatives and not enough time to do a good job at any of them. No work-life balance. Candor is often requested but not always valued.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus and deprioritize. You're burning out the good folks because you want everything at once. Temper new ideas against initiatives whose value depends on getting them completed before you take on more work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at NewPage

Pros – Decent and hardworking people.
Above average paper machines for North America.
A couple proprietary products.

Cons – Management in over their heads and lack the vision for and industry in decline.
Bankruptcy, high debt load, not market driven, inconsistent market directives.
Weak marketing endeavors

Advice to Senior Management – Spend more time out of Miamisburg, listen to your customers, look for opportunities not being met by your competitors.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at NewPage

Pros – Some sites offer outstanding career development opportunities.
Some sites have excellent management teams.
Excellent opportunity to work across departmental boundaries.

Cons – The company filed bankruptcy in September 2011.
In the absence of significant change at the senior management level, this corporation will continue to wither and die. Very poor decisions have been made regarding capital investment and market share vs. net selling price.
Compensation increases and retirement benefits (of any sort) are non-existent.
No honest information is disseminated to the sites from senior management. "Town Hall Meetings" at the manufacturing sites typically draw less than 5% of the workforce since none of the information shared is honest or believable.

Advice to Senior Management – Senior leadership doesn't take advice.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at NewPage

Pros – Overall compensation and benefits package are competitive with the industry and very fair. Broad product line which is easy to sell.

Cons – SLT has no discernable strategy and history of flip-flops from one extreme to the other. One Quarter it's all about volume, the next it's all about margin. SLT has an extremely high opinion about themselves yet hold the rest of the organization, especially the sales group in low regard. As a result It's common for managers to do their subordinates jobs for them or limit their power to the point where they have to ask for permission to make routine decisions. Middle management runs scared for their jobs and are largely ineffective. Very bureaucratic culture which prides itself on being data driven, yet the company's performance over the past few years has been horrendous.

Advice to Senior Management – Above all, humble yourselves! Lead by example and take public ownership and responsibility for your actions and decisions. Get out of the office and make it a priority to spend some time on the street with your sales people and the customers. Understand that your employees feel disenfranchised and disconnected and resolve to do something about it!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend