Qwest Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

I was working in a tech support capacity so the job was pretty easy. I supported their ProDSL product so it was fun to work with small and medium sized businesses. Though they have long since discontinued the product. The people I worked with were great as well.

Cons

Many management decisions seemed to lack common sense. Qwest was constantly changing workflow policies which meant constantly learning new policies.

Advice to Senior Management

The managers were generally good but had their hands tied by their bosses. Perhaps upper management should come down to the trenches and see how their products apply to the real world.

Pros

As a technician I liked the ability to be able to move around on a daily basis. The company provided you with the tools to complete your jobs.

Cons

Some of the training was subpar. you are taught something new very fast and most of it you figured out by other peers or trial and error.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer more training classes for advancement. Completely understand the job and the jobs difficulties and roadblocks before disciplining for nonperformance.

Pros

excellent base pay
lots of time off
good medical

Cons

no possiblilites of moving up
pension was taken away
moving work to vendors

Advice to Senior Management

You must invest in your workforce to retain them and keep your edge. Giving lucrative bonuses and pay to only top executives and instead freezing salaries and refusing to train your top sales people just won't cut it in the end. We all know what happened to ATT.

Pros

No cost medical. Discount services.

Cons

All the rest. Sorry this is a REALLY bad place to work!

Advice to Senior Management

Quit. Get new people that want to work and dont just think having 20 years with the company is all you need to do you job as a manager.

Pros

Excellent bonus structure
Good work/life balance (in my department anyway)
Ability to work from home when needed and as long as it's not abused (again, in my department)

Cons

Union environment creates some employees that feel they are entitled to everything
Some decisions made higher up require reverse engineering to implement

Advice to Senior Management

Maintain the focus on the customer, and keep listening to the needs of your employees

Pros

Benefits were very competitive. Five years in gave one five paid weeks off. Healthcare benefits were decent. Projects were stimulating.

Cons

Constant threat of headcount reductions. Once the ax falls, those remaining pick up the slack. The workplace got a little lonely after the workforce reductions.

Advice to Senior Management

Qwest needs some stimulating product offerings. The basic twisted pair just isn't going to do it. How do you retain relevance in the wireless future?

Pros

great when meeting your numbers but when your not your in trouble. Don't take a vacation or you won't meet your numbers

Cons

quota can be unrealistic but sometimes you have a good month and sometimes not. you must put out the effort, nothing is free

Advice to Senior Management

stay the course, the road to recovery takes time. Mr Mueller has a tough road ahead but like I said, stay the course

Pros

Competitive benefits, entitlement time (vacation, personal days, sick days). As another reviewer here stated, it's a place where one can 'coast' through the workday with moderate effort (if that sort of situation appeals to you).

Cons

Poor morale, consumer services department mismanaged, company poorly positioned to compete. Qwest was nearly brought to bankruptcy in the early 00's by the corrupt regime of former CEO Joe Nacchio and his cronies. The company was forced to sell off some of its most profitable assets (e.g., directory services) in order to survive, and it has never fully recovered. Additionally, in comparison to the other 'Baby Bells' it has the largest geographical area to service along with the lowest population density, putting it at a financial and logistical disadvantage.

Advice to Senior Management

Merge with a stronger RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company)

Pros

The company is big and stable. Even though they are lossing many customers due to increase usage of wireless devices you know that business owners and many other people will continue to use land phone lines.

Cons

As a supervisor/manager you will be working long hours. Company's management team appear to be controlled by the union representative. Since Qwest is composed of Union workers it can be very challenging for supervisor/manaager to accomplish their goals.

Advice to Senior Management

Do what is right and dont let Union representatives tell you what to do.

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.