First thing first: DON'T EVER APPLY HERE UNLESS YOU ARE TRULY DESPERATE. I hope God never puts you in such a position, but if you do find yourself as such, expect to work FASTER than the workers who have years of experience because it is what your first impression that counts.
You must be wondering, "Whoa, it's my first day! I can't possibly do that, can I?" Well, I've got news for you! You will get 5 minutes of 'training' (the instructors were just paying lip service honestly), get thrown with a random unqualified person to explain your job to you and expect to REPLACE that person in 5-10 minutes once you've learned what the job is. If this doesn't intimidate you, then let me get started on the pace of the work. The lines are so fast that your brain cannot keep up. You will get so dizzy that you'll probably alter the perception of your senses unconsciously and lose touch with reality. You will break your back, especially lower back, and your shoulder will freeze. Your eyes won't be able to shift fast enough. And, in the event of a problem at either behind or ahead of your line (which occurs quite frequently considering the compromised quality), you won't stop your line, but you'd have to deal with the products somehow...anyhow... Mind you, this is what you'll experience on your first day. Of course, with experience, you might know how to get your job done 'easier' but, seeing the chaos every worker has to put up with, I'm not so sure about that...
THE AMOUNT OF WASTED BREAD WAS UNBELIEVABLE. I was baffled how can the workers literally THROW away edible bread in garbage dumps as if they have been desensitized to the practice. Has the management not tried to find ANY way to recycle/donate the food?
And no, for the co-workers to take bread home is not a big deal. I'd say it's better than wasting all of that good food.
UNPROFESSIONALISM OF THOSE IN AUTHORITY: You'd think those in charge will be easy on you (or AT LEAST encouraging) because you're new? Think again. Some are so incredibly rude they'll tell you flat out that you simply cannot do the job, look somewhere else (yes, this happened to me on my first day). Your job is not in the hands of your supervisor but of your line manager. Suck up to them if you want to stay employed. The unsophisticated ones think intimidating and dominating their inferiors is good management, and they practice this ideology wholeheartedly.
Ah, and of course, you'll recognize favouritism every minute of working there. It's Furlani's culture.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Younger women, beware. You will be ogled at and approached by perverted young men. Do not, at any cost, talk to them for more than 2 seconds.
If you want to know more, read up on Sara Mojtehedzadeh's article on working at Fiera Foods.
