Nortel Networks Reviews in Ottawa, ON Area

Pros

It was a very nice place to work until 2000. From there it all started going downhill. The pros that existed in the good times have been all wiped out.

Cons

Constant layoffs
Very bad quality of execuitve management
Executive management forces project managers to do offshoring/outsourcing without reality checks

Advice to Senior Management

You should be ashamed about how you destroyed a company with >10o yeras of history. it did not have to be this way.

Pros

Great technology. Lots of great people. Great facilities. Pretty decent flex-time arrangements & work from home options. Great pay & benefits.

Cons

The company has been in a death spiral for years & is now in bankruptcy protection. For the last few years senior management has been shifting jobs to contractors in India & elsewhere. As they've been down sizing for years, there has been little room for career evolution and many folks are simply stuck waiting for the lay off notice.

Advice to Senior Management

None to give - the company is being dismantled & sold for the pieces. To companies who would look at ex-norlet execs? Avoid at all costs!

Pros

Nortel was once a great company. It still has solid technology a large installed base and Great Customers

Cons

Poor image as a result of all the public issues and the recent bankruptcy process. The Company continues to be dragged down by its past. At the same time, a complete lack of Strategy and Vision at the most senior levels plagues it constantly and prevents it from moving forward.

By its actions, the most senior management team has no real regard for employees and in fact continues to attack its largest asset as it reduces costs. The combination of lack of regard and lack of vision makes it very difficult to have hope things will get better.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop talking about making hard decisions - make them. Listen to your people. Build a vision and strategy, not vague marketing slogans

Pros

Whole life balance and generally high caliber of employees.

Cons

Uncertainty.
Still some teflon coated deadwood even after 16+ rounds of headcount reductions.

Advice to Senior Management

Make bigger decisions, faster. Invest more in your people.

Pros

Fair compensation and a good work/life balance is much appreciated, but I think the main reason I like working at Nortel is the social makeup of my team. It is a good group of people who have worked together for a few years and have developed a good symbiosis. This might not be the case in other teams, however.

Cons

Poor senior management decision making over the last few years has doomed this company. A lack of understanding at the VP level about the products that their are responsible for has lead to many programs being chopped for the wrong reasons.

Advice to Senior Management

I think that part of the Chapter 11 restructuring should be to do some selective house-cleaning at the middle and senior management levels.

Pros

- good compensation package, though being cut back
- first rate engineering team "on the shop floor"
- Nortel name still stands for high quality, good craftsmanship

Cons

- bankruptcy protection -- sums it up
- 6 sigma and enormous process has slain innovative core of the company
- death of 1000 cuts ... 8+ years of constant downsizing and reorganization
- senior management team brought in with little or now telecom experience
- the culture of "GE" -- teams are forced to put folks in "bottom 15%", then fire them (better to be a mediocre player in a crappy group than an outstanding one in a group of gods)
- employees are our most valuable asset -- at least they've stopped actually telling people that lie

Advice to Senior Management

- trust the people who do their jobs
- learn the industry, and pick your bets and organizational structure and STICK WITH IT for > 1 year...
- make it fun again

Pros

Nothing very positive at this time.

Cons

Management decision making (senior level) has a lot to be desired. Work life balance is not there. Given the layoffs that have occured each and every quarter since 2001, more is always expected from the remaining.

Advice to Senior Management

Far too much politics. Get out of the way and simply let NPI teams deliver. Stop the churn and make a decision.

Pros

Great people: intelligent, dedicated and caring. Lots of opportunity if you are aggressive in seeking it out and do not mind weathering the internal turmoil. Interesting technologies, products and ideas.

Cons

The company has been "restructuring" for several years and the impact is felt by employees: numerous rounds of layoffs, yearly organizational changes and, most recently, the jettisoning of the heads of sales, technology and marketing. Nortel is always announcing bad news, which has an impact on morale. Expectations are very high, even as internal teams lose the people they need to achieve their goals. Job security is questionable as is the company's future.

Advice to Senior Management

Pick a plan. Set concrete objectives. Meet them.

Pros

It was once a company for innovation and professional development. We all have hoped for the better....

Cons

Nortel has had for the past 5 years, a misguidance in corporate governance.
While company was struggling to survive, the big executives made some good money and great bonuses.

Advice to Senior Management

They are telling employees that filing for bankruptcy protection is not a "sign of failure" for a company. What is it then?

Pros

Variety of learning opportunities are endless.

Cons

Most of the downsides at the moment deal with the financial difficulties the company is dealing with. It has little impact on my job directly but the management turmoil it causes gets old after a while.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop the churn! I know that management have to look busy but could you stop changing my management structure for a month or more so that we can get our bearings?