Working at Cooper Standard Automotive — Reviews by Employees

As a former employee I can say without one doubt in my mind that CSA is step in the wrong direction. As soon as CSA bought the plant I worked in from ITT Indust. it was down hill from there. Benefits, salary, any kind of "bonus" were stripped away with out a thought. Jobs were cut, positions eliminated and work was lost to competitors. The best part is after an employee was laid off, or fired, they were asked to come back as a contractor or temporary employee. Knowing that in our area if you want a paycheck, you were over a barrel, people took the SAME JOB for LESS PAY, yet record profits for the last 3 quarters?

Kudos CSA...

As the Company leaves bankruptcy, it appears the executives will pocket large bonuses for guiding them both into and out of bankruptcy. The company is under staffed and the executives just laugh at spending money at any level to bring the employee numbers up to a sustainable level. They need plant help, engineering help, etc. It's a shame because no employee wants to see their quality go down when it doesn't have to. People have pride in their work and soon as others start hiring will leave out of frustration. Cooper downsized for less vehicles and now that the numbers are up, the staffing level is not. CSA could do the right thing by their employees by giving them the help at all levels of the organization it deserves, make this company strong and proud again.

great place to work with lost of advancement opportunities

I agree with pretty much everything that other writers have said. I would particularly agree with the assessment of the Human Resources department. These people should be ashamed of themselves. They are simply there to support the management and could care less about the employees. When asked for policy, they never really know it and instead of trying to look out for the employees HR simply says, "Ask your supervisor." Real nice. Employment policy that varies with department... They do this simply so that different people working in the same department have perks that others don't. Pathetic.

Wow, who ever stated that engineers and sales have it better here are off base. In fact, if you are in sales, you got it made. This is sales driven company, Engineering, manufacturing, laboratory servides are push to the side. H.R. and I.T. are being told what to do. In other words, they are puppets for the masters in Novi. I also have never heard of company not making a big deal of going into bankruptcy and acting as is if "we'll all be fine". Looking for promotion or heading up the ladder? Not within this company look else where.

I agree with the previous person. I worked at Cooper and their new director of Engineering is completely unprofessional. He speaks before people and swears and degrades them. Human Resources have sat in his meetings and seem to turn a blind eye, I guess they are just waiting for the lawsuits. Strange the guy would brag about pissing off people and having been fired twice.

I worked for Cooper Standard for 6 years before being put on temporary layoff (I have since found a new job). I found the company to be very dis-loyal to employee's who had worked there for a while. I saw people get laid off who had put in more years than others. I felt that layoff decisions were based more on favoritism than on performance.

Pay is terrible but I imagine it is the same everywhere. Respect is minimal. Directors and above get it all while the general workers get nothing. Benefits are getting less and less while owners scramble to make as much personal $ as they can via the bankruptcy. Job security is non-existent. And get ready, I hear three plants are going to be closed as punishment for the union holding firm. They beat everyone like a dead horse so there is no work-life balance. Career and growth potential is a thing of the past. Location for me is fine. I have family around but I feel sorry for those out there on their own without a family support system. My fellow workers are completely competent but are made to feel terrible by the directors and executives who are NOT competent. Work environment is depressing. Thank goodness for the end of the day and friends to have a drink with!

Great place to work. The director of Engineering lambastes everyone about not working everyday from 7am to 9:00 pm and then he (Kummar) is never in the office.Cuts were made with no real thought process as to the quality of the person just whether he liked them or not in his 2 minute first impression. Executives are out for themselves and cut people in a heartbeat. The longer you are there the better chance of being cut. Human resources is nothing more than a mouthpiece of the executives who have only their best interests in mind. The world of Cooper resides around the Novi Brain trust, scary. Glad I no longer work there, they are clueless.

You would do well if you were one of management, in engineering or sales. There are radically different rules and perks for people based only on their title. This is due specifically to the operating principles of management and most of these perks are passed to the above positions in a hush-hush manner.

They have NO loyalty to their employees. They do constantly demand loyalty, and always want people to do extra work (on the weekends) as they are woefully understaffed. The management is laughably stupid. They put their faith in ridiculous, over-the-top, flash in the pan, engineering ideas while failing to support their current clients and income generating projects.

They are as soul-less an organization as there could be. The worst part is that they have to be. They have decided to put all of their eggs in the baskets of 'the big 3'.