Are machine shops decent places to work?

First: I’m an engineer, not a machinist and I’ve got tons to learn about how things actually get made in the shop.

Was warned by an ex-machinist turned tooling engineer that some shop owners treat their machinists and operators like garbage. Said I should be in the lookout for the small. I Have visited a few shops recently because I don’t want to send work where people are treated like crap. The shops I’ve visited have seemed pretty great. They hire a lot of younger guys and have a strong apprenticeship program and people seem to stick around.

For those of you with experience, what’s the actual culture like at US machine shops?