Netflix Reviews in Portland, OR Area

Pros

Pay for the qualifications is above average, upper management does a pretty good job of taking executive initiatives (not in sync with reality of call center at times) and implementing them to meet goals with minimal moral-related blowback given the abnormally lofty expectations at Los Gatos. Opportunity to advance and stay challenged for a call-center environment is above average...catch 22 of this is listed below.

Cons

In this company, what you know and who you know go hand in hand. Floor management is given independence to run their teams their way, provided they hit goals and don't draw too far outside the lines. This in some ways creates a public school environment: Some teachers inspire their students...some make them want to drop out entirely. From the top down there is a constant but rather inconsistent level of pressure to perform or face termination. When there is a lull in customer volume, employees are given adequate time and support to develop their skills...if the volume spikes unexpectedly however, external pressure related to the bottom line overrules, and suddenly everyone in the center is under the guillotine again. As an employee that has seen 80% of the center (now 900 strong) replaced with fresh meat in only a years time, and a large number of those let go having equal or better performance than my own (networking is key), it is frustrating to see so much talent go to waste on a regular basis as a result of a supervisor's<team manger's<director's<corp exec's own stress to perform-or-face-a-similar-fate mentality. Going back to the Pros, you can advance rapidly if you make people notice the positive things you do at the right time, because every level in the hierarchy drops like flies.

Advice to Senior Management

SLOW DOWN and don't lose your center! When you have potential competitors with pocketbooks 1000x the size I realize this is difficult, but it is not a positive position to be in from an internal culture standpoint. If expansion continues without re-evaluation of what makes the company worth working for other than the paycheck, you will exhaust your talent pool, be forced to outsource, and turn into just another company with a generic, pre-programmed message: "What other choice do you have?"

Pros

Pay is great, but save your money... the severance package will only last you so long.

Cons

Most of the "benefits" of being an exempt employee come with a very high price tag. I am not just talking about the unusually high salaries. Sure, you can take "as much time off as you want" if you don't mind spending that time worrying about if you'll have a job when you get back, or hell... even getting the time to take a vacation at all. The culture of fear is VERY real. There is zero work life balance. When I started I was suprised to see so many 30 somethings who were single and had no kids. I learned quickly that it's almost the only way to keep your job. 60 hours a week doesn't work when you have a family or even a significant other, especially when what precious time you do have off you are worried about work. Feedback is relative to who is giving it. I received my first real feedback session after I interviewed for a position 6 months after being hired. I received positive feedback, then was laid off 2 weeks later.

Advice to Senior Management

The culture of fear is developed from the top down. While "freedom and responsibility" sounds great on paper, my experience was better described as "uncertainty and pressure". I am not someone who is unfamiliar with hard work and giving everything I have... but if you are not clear as toi how much is enough it leaves you with a pit of stress in your stomach.

Pros

Netflix does have some great benefits. They offer hourly employees a good starting wage, the break room is stocked with snacks, and employees receive a free Netflix plan. As an exempt employee the wages are great, much better than other companies. The freedom to take time off as you'd like is great, it's unlimited for exempt employees.

Cons

If you accept a job at Netflix, you'll probably be pretty happy at first. You'll feel liberated by how much "freedom and responsibility" you're given. You'll be allowed to complete things without much as far as guidelines and you'll be allowed to work from home if you'd like. However, as soon as you complete something that someone doesn't like, you'll feel differently. Your first mistake could easily be your last. There aren't second chances and no one is safe from being "let go". My advice to prospective Netflix employees: have a savings and jump ship as soon as you can. It's only a matter of time before you're asked to go to a conference room and find yourself starring at a red Netflix packet...

Advice to Senior Management

Wake up and start treating people right...what goes around, comes around

Pros

Lots of pay, benefits, freedom, opportunities to find out what you're really made of, lots of top-notch talent.

Cons

You *will* get fired. It's just a question of when. There will be no warning, and you will be gone.

Advice to Senior Management

Advice to management? Take a long hard look in the mirror.

Pros

-fun work environment (IF you have a good team, and manager)
-good location

Cons

-high stress
-high turnover
-no communication between ops and CSR's when new things are launched
-constant fear of doing something wrong
-there is no way that we can 'relate', 'assure', make the customer feel good, and fix their issue in under 4 minutes and 30 seconds (and get a Yes response 95.5% of the time)

Advice to Senior Management

Better communication about new NRD's or other things being launched.

Pros

Free monthly subscription. Good money but daily multiple firings are reminders of why Unions exist.

Cons

Upper management is not not consistent. For every one good Manager....you have 3 horrible ones. Not very good odds. :(

Advice to Senior Management

Fix your issues...don't just fire everyone that does not fit to your company mold. You would be amazed at how many different ways there are to accomplish a task.

Pros

Great Pay. Excellent Benefits. Smart, hardworking teammates. Opportunities to excel, be creative, be strategic. Managers are all excellent at managing their people, especially if you are a top performer they are hands off and supportive.

Cons

To be honest, I loved pretty much every day up until I was let go based off a rumor. The biggest problem is that in order to be successful at in the call center you have to "drink the Kool Aid." Which in all honesty I was happy to do, I got to work with some really rad people, and do really great work that I'm proud of. However, karma is, well you know karma is, and I let go of a lot of people that probably felt like it wasn't fair, and eventually the same thing happened to me. Loyalty to employees is not one of their strong suits.

Advice to Senior Management

Honestly have the greatest respect for the management in terms of their abilities to do their jobs. I do however wonder in retrospect if the running of something as a team instead of a family is always the best way to do something. But then, perhaps it is.

Pros

Free Easy Mac, Tea, Oatmeal & Cup O Noodles
Free Netflix Subscription

Cons

The people working here are so ridiculous and the trainer is straight from Sesame Street.

I knew one of the first 6 people to open the center, and she had been laid off over a year prior to when I started. She had some horror stories, but I thought the pay would overshadow any hint of doubt I had.

I made them aware of the fact that I was in school [college, obviously] prior to being invited to the interview, and they said that was fine & they'd work with me (I found out later that this is a complete lie). I went through training and everything with positive feedback. Only after that did it become an issue, and I was constantly pulled aside and berated. I am not going to quit school to slave away at a job that will last less than a year. They pulled me into random rooms around the call center and told me my "internet browsing privileges were being taken away during my breaks," because I looked up Netflix reviews. I was told that my face looked "sad and depressed." Well, of course it was after you pulled me into a room 3 times in one day trying to make me feel bad about going to school.

They expect you to talk to 85-year-olds with Alzheimers that can't even remember their email address, let alone their name, and help them fix whatever issue they have in less than 5 minutes.

Why is there free food? Why are there showers here? Why are there laptops for you to use? Because they want you to eat, sleep and breathe Netflix.

Advice to Senior Management

People are human. Netflix has no human aspect to it.
When I first started, everyone there was worried about their job, although most of them were recently promoted. That's horrible. Start investing in people so you don't waste money on training.

Don't say things that can bring a lawsuit to your door.

Don't hire people in school.

Don't expect newly trained employees to know all of the answers when your trainers don't even know the answers.

Pros

Salaries are at or above the market rate.
Good stock options for salaried employees.
The ability to work remotely, from home.

Cons

Working around the clock, phone calls during vacation.
Very high attrition rates
Constant fear of being let go
Always switching directions while running full speed ahead.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit being elitists. Your company is a revolving door and you continue to lose brilliant people because you don't treat them like human beings.

At the rate in which Netflix hires & fires, I'm amazed that they are sill able to find people to interview!

Pros

Free Netflix subscription, good compensation for what you are doing, just sitting and talking really. They also allow you to use your own judgement when compensating customers for problems.

Cons

I was ahead of the curve for a new hire, things were going well. I got sick a couple of times and then a week after my last absence, they fired me at the start of my work week. I just wish they would have said something like, you can't miss one more day or we will have to let you go, something along those lines.

Advice to Senior Management

If you have written-in-stone guidelines such as an attendance policy, those guidelines should be something shared with the people that they are being enforced on. Because how are you supposed to obey a law, if you honestly don't know it exists,