AT&T Wireless Reviews in Bothell, WA

Pros

Salary and bonus
physical work environment
immediate supervisor very supportive

Cons

Health and other benefits are average for such a large and successful company
Lack of mentoring to encourage ideas and promotion from within
Needlessly stingy and short sighted employee phone benefits

Pros

Sadly, I don't really have anything positive to say regarding my year and a half of working at AT&T Wireless. I worked with so good people, and made some great contacts for future networking.

Cons

Management is out of touch with the workers in the trenches, and is more concerned with the bottom line, and outsourcing the work to a "cheaper workforce." They need to understand that the people who work there are professional, adults, and do no need to be ridden and ruled over, like they are small children.

Advice to Senior Management

Appreciate your employees more and stop taking them for granted. You could have a better, and more loyal workforce if it wasn't such an oppressive and totalitarian place to work.

Pros

Nothing stands out other than my peers

Cons

employees are treated like a number and are told they are lucky to have a job
low end health insurance
a great example of keeping profits up top and willingness to cut corners to keep it that way

Pros

This company has a wonderful benefits program available to all of its bargained employees. The wages offered are tiered, and very competitive with like positions in the industry. If you wish to continue your education, this company definitely supports it, and has people available to assist you with your career goals. There is a work life program that allows you to work on your educational goals while maintaining employment with the company.

Cons

Schedules are seniority based, and shift bids are done periodically. If you do not have a lot of tenure with the company, you may get placed on a shift you do not like. Stick it out, there is much movement within the company, and with that, the ability to change shifts in some instances.

Advice to Senior Management

For the most part, I feel that there was good communication between our management and the staff. I believe there is room for better communication between departments though. Often times, decisions are made by upper management, and they are not aware of the impact it has on the staff who carries out the tasks given based on those decisions. If upper management had more communication with the department management, and then the department management with the staff, things would be more seamless more often.

Pros

Steady 40 hours a week. Good place to work for experience in multiple low level computer systems. Great place to learn tolerance for office politics and bureaucracy.

Cons

Little to no upward job advancement opportunity. Management either has very little knowledge or concern regarding performance incentives. (You might receive a printed award, a balloon, & a candy bar when you put in a months worth of effort to far exceed already high standards regarding performance statistics. HOWEVER This "accolade" often goes to favored individuals.) It is a lot easier to outright lose your quarterly bonus due to the companies new policy linking login times and attendance than it is to be rewarded with the monthly "accolade".
Attendance policy leaves very little options for flexibility in balancing work and life.

Advice to Senior Management

Actually listen and act on input from employees.
Stop micro managing employees who have proven to not need it.
Improve on consistency regarding policies and procedures.

Pros

Good work life balance. Flexible hours. New ideas are welcome for process improvement. Not too many crazy hours. Lots of nice people working there.

Cons

Pay is on the lower side. Benefits package not very competitive. They group needs to get more organized and work less in silos. LOTS of politics.

Advice to Senior Management

Take some time to get people collaborating more. Be careful of what you offshore. The quality has been suffering due to that.

Pros

AT&T is a good brand
AT&T has a lot of customers and is constantly trying to be ahead of their competitors

Cons

Long hours
No overtime hours/pay for contractors
Contractors are treated poorly
Contractors are excluded from a lot of "employee" events
Management does not know what is going on below
Offshore employees = poor quality work
Favoritism is rampant
Poor communication between management
Compensation is low

Advice to Senior Management

Respect your employees, let them know when they are doing a good job.

Pros

Stability! In a tough economy, working for a provider of wireless technologies is a great way to go. If you like dealing with new mobile and wireless technologies then this is the place to be. The management strives to keep the staff happy while also keeping focused on being efficient and productive. While I'm not personally thrilled about working for a union, it does provide some benefit and protection. Benefits are fair if you stay out of management. There are many opportunities for advancement, if you demonstrate that you are a contributor and can hit the performance metrics (good QA reviews, no attendance issues, etc.). Quarterly bonuses based on QA scores and performance are nice.

Cons

For the amount of technical knowledge and computer skills you're expected to have, the pay is pretty low. You're providing support for Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Blackberry, iPhone, Windows & Mac computers, and now Android mobile devices. And you have to be able to use over a dozen different software systems while troubleshooting and assisting customers. All this for a job that starts out at around $12 an hour. And don't get too comfortable with current policies and performance metrics - they change on a regular basis. Recognition of a job well done is nice but it's just a piece of paper saying you did a great job, were nominated for service excellence, or for employee of the month.

Advice to Senior Management

Find a process that works and stick with it. Quit changing how the reps are supposed to do their jobs every six months. If a rep demonstrates special talents that can contribute to the organization, then quit being afraid of what the union wants and find a way to reward those who excel with better jobs, bonuses, and responsibilities.

Pros

You really see the impacts of your quality of work. You see it ripple through the organization and it pays off. Very self gratifying, improves your local work environment.

Cons

AT&T Real Estate operations is allowing what were once great facilities to deteriorate, and rapidly deteriorate by outsourced contractors tearing up the place and exhibiting poor personal hygiene. AT&T Real Estate operations are penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Advice to Senior Management

Too much outsourcing going on, allowing good domain knowledge to leave the company after two years. Too much focus on that shareholder dividend and not enough focus on the wireless network infrastructure.

Pros

- Contractors have a bit more freedom, but employees suffered lower wages, mediocre medical benefits and unpaid extended work days including weekends.

Cons

- The internet use is constantly being monitored and sites being blocked. Something I had not experience at other IT companies.
- Privacy concerns were had by everyone from users to employees.
- Company suddenly cut back on all the employees' basic perks. Such as coffee, tea, kitchen utensils, and so forth. Employees were forced to make pot lucks to buy these items or bring their own.
- Low morale felt by most employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Who will listen? They don't care about their employees. Especially in this economy where they see people as interchangeable.