I worked as an assembly associate for almost 6 months and let me tell you it was the longest 6 months of my life.
$18 an hour wasn’t horrible but with the work we had to do we should have been making $30+ an hour. Before leaving for work I would have to take Advil and after work I would have to take even more just to be able to help me sleep. Then pulling on fabric for 10 hours a day certainly takes a toll on your fingers, hands and wrists. The joints in my fingers would lock up multiple times a day as well as the skin on my fingers would peel off due to the couch material rubbing on my fingers and knuckles constantly.
The turnover rate was around 2 days for new hires and I even had people I would train that would leave during lunch. The fastest someone left out the door after starting their shift was 2 hours. The only plus side to sticking with Ashley was I moved up pretty fast. However what made me leave was that I was stuck at what they call “Fifth Man” which most of the others called “The worst position” and I was stuck their almost the whole time I was with Ashley Furniture and to justify it they gave me a $.50 raise lol.
Now I’m at a great job and couldn’t be happier!
So incase anyone was thinking about working for Ashley Furniture on the upholstery assembly side. I would advise that the physical and mental toll it takes on you is not worth it.