Lionbridge Reviews

Pros

You have flexibility with schedule, and are able to set own hours five days a week, which is nice when you have a family.

Cons

I was hired with the understanding that this was a permanent position, but let go with no notice. Be aware that they will let people go frequently, and that this will never be a stable position.

Advice to Senior Management

Not enough feedback on performance from the beginning. Once feedback was received I was able to see where I could improve my performance, and was beginning to really feel that I understood completely what the job entailed, but 2 months later was let go without notice. Employee loyalty would be nice.

Pros

Friendly Co-workers
Office Complex has a decent Gym
Main complex cafeteria is OK

It was a great place to work, a few years back, but with a lot of work being outsourced to vendor agencies, the quality of work has dropped and it isn't fun to work here anymore.

Cons

Environment is depressing

Management not interested in staff input. Management not interested in staff period.

Environment breeds motivation-less staff and robotic process. "Is it Friday yet" environment. Unrealistic expectations

No pay increases in several years, no bonuses, yet expectation is 24 x 7 availability.

HR not interested in improvements. much talk of listening, yet no actions time and time again.

They speak about a great culture and the value of employees, but Senior leaders aren't really sincere and don't back it up with their actions.

A great number of tremendously talented leaders and employees have left the company in the last 5 years

Little to no respect for people who have been loyal employees

Lionbridge thinks of their employees as nothing more than commodities.

Advice to Senior Management

take down the wall between employees and management

Pros

The environment that is culturally different.

Cons

Long days of working on one project because of time zones.

Advice to Senior Management

It is a great opportunity to grow in!

Pros

Telecommuting is extremely convenient and likely the reason I have not looked more actively for work elsewhere.
Allows for a very flexible schedule and I do not miss the 2+ hour rush hour commutes I used to have to suffer through.
The pay is better than many jobs I have seen advertised wanting more experience in various areas (you know - those jobs that want the world delivered to them and will only pay $10/hour - they're at least better than that!)

Cons

Have had some condescending replies when I have posed questions on certain labeling situations - doesn't exactly inspire confidence to ask for any other questions or clarifications in the future, so may result in inaccurate work.
Absolutely no opportunities for advancement
Worked there for over a year and have not seen a raise
No health insurance (although there is a 401K) - they make sure you don't put in enough hours to qualify

BIGGEST con of all - and the reason I came here to post a review - they will screw their employees out of pay. After a VERY brief evaluation of the timekeeping abilities of their online tool - they say it is correct - which is complete nonsense. The tool is consistently reporting 10-15% LESS than what I am working. I enjoy the job well enough - but I damned sure don't want to work without being paid properly. Very disappointing!!

Advice to Senior Management

Don't treat your telecommuters like chattel.

Pros

1. Good work life balance
2. Good opportunities to grow

Cons

1. Very Less pay
2. No hikes

Advice to Senior Management

Give good hikes to the hard workers.

Pros

Good place to work, specially if you are new to the big industry. extremely supportive HR and Admin staff....ambience is good.

Cons

It was a great place to work, a few years back...but with a lot of work being outsourced to vendor agencies, the quality of work has dropped and it's isn't fun to work here anymore....and a lot of good managers have left resulting in problems in daily routine activities.....growth opportunities have diminished over the years.

Advice to Senior Management

Be transparent with the employees...and provide them the right inputs when the business is doing not so well during recession times....

Pros

Work is easy and repititive. If you are looking for easy money, this is the place to work. Management is decent, but money is the ultimate goal.

Cons

Lionbidge makes its money by charging clients an arm and a leg, and then giving you less than 50% of that.

Pros

# Average to slightly above average salary
# Most everyone outside senior leadership is friendly and approachable
# Average office location
# Global workforce

Sadly, I am having difficulty thinking of more positives. Having worked here for several years, you would think I could muster up a couple more, but that is not the case.

Cons

# Toxic work environment
# Revolving door is unlikely to end anytime soon - IT staff are treated as commodity items, not people
# Employees are subject to bullying from senior IT staff
# HR looks the other way instead of tackling the problem, head-on
# IT systems are extremely unstable due to poor planning and budget constraints, and this leads to excessive work hours and unrealistic expectations
# No bonuses or stock to speak of (unless you are one of the chosen few)
# Waltham staff walk around like beaten stepchildren. It seemed to me that far more than 50% of peers were looking for jobs actively
# Raises. What raises? (at least for the last several years)
# Reviews. Not likely.
# Very cliquey - if you aren't "in", you won't be a happy camper

Advice to Senior Management

Stop padding your pockets and appreciate the everyday folks who have bought your summer homes and palatial suburban compounds. You would think that employee satisfaction would be of some concern, but from what I have seen... it's never even been considered.

Pros

Competent work force, fairly flat organization so exposure to executive manager fairly easy to do. Flexible work hours but also global footprint requires work outside standard hours

Cons

many people have been here quite a long time and while the company wants to innovate there are quite a few people who are invested in the status quo

Advice to Senior Management

Engage more directly with the rank and file of the organization - review your compensation to what the market will bear --

Pros

- Flexibility for sure: Most Lionbridge employees work remotely F/T & P/T and have very flexible hours on top of that. This one is a no-brainer and is probably the best part of being a Lionbridge employee.

- Good support from management: Lionbridge management does make the best interest of their employees a priority and they do their best to keep their employees in the program, even if they are struggling with the material.

- Compensation is great for the work. Some overtime is often available if desired.

Cons

- The guidelines and criteria are continually changing which can be difficult to adapt to. Moreover, the criteria can be poorly defined or confusing at times. Generally the best way to improve is simply through practice.

- You are at the mercy of technology, which can fail. Sometimes when the programs' applications go down, it can make life pretty difficult trying to make up the hours lost. Management usually allows some flexibility in these cases, but it still can be difficult. On that note, it is not uncommon that you end up putting in more time than what you end up reporting due to a variety of factors. i.e. 5 hours can very readily turn into 6 hours.

- While the job is very independant at its core, sometimes you can go weeks without hearing from management. More feedback would probably have a positive result.

- The work can be very tedious and monotonous. This is what the job is about, so it should be expected, but it can be a real challenge to stay focused especially when new to the work.

Advice to Senior Management

Lionbridge is a great, professional place to work and provides a lot of opportunity and flexibility that simply cannot be found elsewhere. Just a little more communication from management if not the availability of additional resources to the employees would help Lionbridge continue to thrive.