Qwest – “Qwest, bad morale at the technician level.”

Pros

Good pay and benefits.  At least it's a good place to gain some experience. I value the paid tuition program.

Cons

First level managers, the ones who see what goes on in the field have no authority to make any decisions. Upper management clueless about what field techs do. Focus is on how many jobs get completed per day, quality work goes out the window. Plant in bad shape. No training, difficult to get necessary tools and test equipment. "demand" days which are days that one is supposed to be able to take off anytime, (4 per year) are not really so, they are only allowed M-F and capped to a certain number of techs per side of town. Should be called "Demand days if we want to let you have them off". Old, ratty fleet 100k+ miles is common.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the people who do the work. We see what goes on in the field. Treat people with respect. Get your techs the tools they need to do the job, this includes training. Don't be afraid to accept some feedback and ideas from first level managers; again, they see what goes on day in and day out. Let first level managers have some decision making authority; let them manage their workgroup. Let us do our jobs, getting out of the garage in twenty minutes in the morning doesn't allow us the time to figure out where we are going, what supplies we might need, get our jug of water, its 110 degrees plus out, put fuel in our truck, maybe interact with the people we work with a little bit. Management says we can do all of these things in the evening upon our return to the garage but what difference does it make what time of day we take care of the administrative stuff, you are paying us either way. Quit using gps to intimidate techs. Don't worry about whether or not we visit the central office during the day, it is a necessary part of our job.