AT&T Reviews in Houston, TX Area

Pros

There were great opportunities. They have a good bonus structure based on company performance. There are also many locations along with many positions.

Cons

AT&T is so large that you may feel like a number. At times you may not be challenged in your role.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't be afraid to personalize the business at bit more. Give the employees a reason to work not just come to work.

Pros

Good Money for the work.
Low Stress
Outstanding insurance
Work independently, management provides the tools and training you need to do the work and stay out of the way.
Standard hours and holidays, you can work overtime by taking call out work, or turn it down.

Cons

Managers make less than craftsmen so it is discouraging to take a promotion.
The work is very laid out, and can be mind numbing at times
AT&T wireline business is winding down and the there are always layoffs and rumors of layoffs.
AT&T has consolidated its back office work force so many times we can't keep up with who to call next

Advice to Senior Management

Rural towns need data too. Don't cut to closely on people and equipment. When bad things happen you need people to respond who know what they are doing.

Pros

the benefits are great and you don't have to deal with a manager during the day. that is it for now.

Cons

no certain work hours. no rewards for the work you do. the company does not respect your work at all

Advice to Senior Management

remember who makes the money for you and quit treating them like they are dirt. give them something to look forward too

Pros

job security and friendly people

Cons

Very little appreciatation for employees (got $5 gift card to blockbuster for 5 years of service)
Managment would not give us a police officer durring holidays when 3 att stores had already been robbed and employees tied up.
pay raises were a joke (commision was where bulk of our paycheck was made but still)

Advice to Senior Management

Treat employees with respect and they will respect you back.

Pros

great company with a great history, treats its empoyees fairly when compared to other similar companies, fantastic potential for advancement

Cons

can get stuck on measurements instead of measuring, there are some bad managers at lower levels, still have to deal with an old union

Advice to Senior Management

keep it up

Pros

Pay, benefits & prestige. Top pay for Class 1 Craft prior to new 2009 contract is $30.04 with 10% shift differential. Up to 4 weeks of vacation per year, depending on the number of years of service. Pay only deductible or copay for medical care - no insurance premiums. Pro-military and minorities.

Cons

Lots of pressure to complete many telephone line installation and repair tickets. All installation techs and most repair techs in own shop have been written up for lack of production as quotas are very tough to meet even for experienced techs.

Advice to Senior Management

Back off and focus on job quality, not quantity!

Pros

The senior leadership has a great strategy and executed their plan to put AT&T in one of the best positions in the industry. Benefits are good including fair annual bonuses and a pension. Once at AT&T you have a career. Many of my co-workers have 20 plus years with the company.

Cons

AT&T is still very siloed operationally. Departments do not interact as much as they should. Previous reguatory restraints might have created this environment. The company is weighed down by too many processes almost to a point of being government or military-like. They have too many legacy systems supporting these processes. Career-wise, there is little mobility. There are fascinating positions in the company but to move from one department to another is nearly impossible. Lateral moves are nearly always shot down. To move to another department typically requires a promotion.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management put us in a great position in the industry. We have a world class network and we offer the greatest breadth of products. They accomplished this and kept our strong financial standing. The problem will have is with legacy systems and internal processes that operate like a typical ILEC. I'd like to see us be more nimble. The overburdening processes seemed to have increased dramatically after the acquisition of AT&T.

Pros

Colleagues were competent and willing to assist across group lines. The AT&T brand is significant and SBC Communications did well to take on the name. The Video focus is beginning to benefit the organization, and its employees. Still work to be done in this area though.

Cons

Lack of appreciation for employees. Everyone is expendable, not a company to spend a career with anymore. The company is huge and although they have standards among IT systems, there are disparate systems a plenty. The company did not lend much weight, as compared to other organizations, to business degrees.

Advice to Senior Management

Middle management is running your company, you would do well to remember that fact.

Pros

The benefits are outstanding & the pay is good. AT&T is a great company and has great products and the work life balence is positive. It has a very postive name and brand recognition and there is pride when saying "I work for AT&T." Free phone service, free long distance and free DSL are benefits that cannot be beat.

Cons

The overhead of working for the phone company. Not everyone is facing the same direction with many fiefdoms and personal agendas. None of this is new information but there is a lot of room for improvement and ways to get better at service.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the talent happy, they will in turn keep your customers happy

Pros

Everyone that I have spoken with about AT&T as a company has actually given excellent reviews. Some actually rave about the company. Its kinda funny because they all seem to have 20+ years of service and that might be why its not really easy to get into. People tend to approach this job with the attitude of sticking around. In my new-hire class everyone keeps talking about retiring from this place. Speaking of retiring most of our instructors are retired AT&T employees and that says alot when your retirees just cant seem to stay away.

Cons

I dont really know yet. Overtime is wide open so I dont have a lot of personal time, but I'm not really complaining as that can be good and bad.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep Up the good work folks