The work environment tended to resemble a sweatshop. For many reasons, as follows:
The quantity vs. hourly payment system. Basically, some of the tasks that are to be completed might be paid hourly or by quantity, all at the CEO's discretion. The CEO advertises this as a benefit of working at NORY, as working by quantity allows you to make more money f you exceed the original goal. However, the set rate rarely reflects the reality of completing a tasks (refills, mess ups, fatigue, anything that keeps you from going as fast as you possibly can for sometimes hours at a time.) Management's unrealistic standard often resulted in going home without even being paid minimum wage. This method also wasted a lot of time as you have to fill out a task sheet for every task you do, bathroom breaks, and basically document every moment of your work day. Then, at the end of the day, Management will look over this task sheet and question every aspect of this. "Why did you take that long? What were you doing around this time? What do you mean by this?" Even though he was present with you in the room throughout the entire work day. Even on a good day, where we would surpass goals exponentially and find ourselves a week ahead of schedule, we were still berated for "not going fast enough."
The office. There was no AC in the hot summer months, we were all constantly sweating and taking turns sitting in front of the one (1) fan in the office. Social distancing measures were not enforced at all, there would be 10 individuals working in the small office/workspace at a time. The "workshop" (A table saw and a band saw) were crammed into a small corner in the office, surrounded by plastic sheets with no ventilation. We were expected to use these power tools with no safety training and for a long time, no protective gear like ear covers. Ultimately a very unsafe workspace.
NORY prioritizes quantity over quality, often being wasteful of time and resources just to have a faster outcome. There is little to no concern for the needs of employees. I, and several of my co-workers, were fired via email suddenly and without any notice due to being unable to commit to M-F schedule, despite being promised that he would work around my college student schedule in the interview. Being a "Maker" is an unsafe, unfair, and unrewarding position. Find another place to work.
