Embarq – “Good pay, absolutely no work/life balance”
Pros
They did pay well. Though based on their website they have dropped the starting pay rate significantly for the new techs coming in.
Cons
Extreme micro-management and absolutely no regard for work/life balance. I was seriously told in the same monthly review that I was one of their best techs, my customer feedback score was excellent, and that I was on disciplinary probation because of my QA scores. My mistake was treating customers as individuals instead of following the checklist that often had nothing to do with the customer's problem.
You did not get your schedule until a week in advance. You did not know what days of the week you were working, let alone what hours. You could work first shift one day and second shift the next. It was completely impossible to schedule anything personal. And when you did get a day off, they would call you on your day off and demand you be there within two hours or risk losing your job. They did that to me once, when they knew I was going on vacation in another state. I managed to not get fired only after reminding them I was hundreds of miles away, and had informed them of this before I left.
Advice to Senior Management
Realize that employees, and customers, are human beings not cattle. A little respect goes a long way.