Alcatel-Lucent Reviews in Plano, TX

Pros

Good pay and opportunity for a college student

Cons

Slim to no chance of ever moving from co-op position to either contractor or full time emplyee. No benefits offered.

Pros

Good camaraderie and support from other employees. Nose to the grindstone - all of us together kind of environment. Reasonable social perks.

Cons

Nepotism, favoritism, and quid pro quo are rampant. Pay, bonus and advancement are not based on merit or skills. Some immoral behavior is overlooked by, or condoned by senior management. Gross imbalance in pay between like roles. No recourse for review.

Advice to Senior Management

Our company could do so much better if we had leaders rather than managers who like to call themselves leaders. There is too much back-slapping and group-think. Independent thought should be encouraged, not punished.

Pros

- Complex systems to work on projects
- Relatively relaxed environment
-

Cons

- Too much politics
- Too many duds around
- Bad salaries for engineers
- Project managers seems to have more value than engineers.
- Low chance of growth.

Pros

Excellent Technology and Peer Collaboration Environment

Cons

Hire inexperienced managers and promote based on the French Connec tion. Managers have no clue of the technical abilities they are managing and don't respect the customer relationship.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire from within only experienced field p[roven leaders, with the ability to lead. Start to truly year after year refocus on the customer relationship.

Pros

Great Benefits
Growth Opportunities
Global Interaction / Opportunities
Family First attitude

Cons

Unstable Industry
Big, global company, so strategic decisions often come slowly
Sometimes hard to know who to get in touch with - (need to manage personal network closely)

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on dynamic, expedient decision making for smaller items, and don't change priorities soon after starting long-term projects as this leads to waste when projects are frozen or scrapped.

Pros

Good benefits, good balance between family life and work. Bonus is satisfactory. Their 401K is one of the better ones.

Cons

Lack of vision. Still unfinished debate after the Lucent Alcatel merger; two camps exist and there is no synergy in between.

Advice to Senior Management

The management should consider creating a synergy between Alcatel and Lucent camps and move forward for the success of the merged company.

Pros

Good benefits, good amount of vacation time.

Cons

Stodgy culture from the Lucent side of the merger makes this a poor place to work. Very much a sense of entitlement from Paris, HQ. Very political.

Advice to Senior Management

Get serious about running a business.

Pros

Good benefits, lax environment, ok pay.

Cons

Dead end positions, gridlocked by upper management, definitely not high tech pay

Pros

Pays very well, best benefits in telecom
bonuses are good for those in internal start-ups

Cons

Work environment is the worst I've ever encountered.
R&D is almost gone in Plano

Advice to Senior Management

many managers and team leads don't give a !?!? about people in general, only a select few
inability to get rid of huge work force in france is killing people in US

Pros

Flexibilty and work from home culture , friendly atmosphere .

Cons

No room for growth . low skilled work in the present tough job market .