Stream Global Services Reviews in Portland, OR Area

Pros

Stream has two very good and valid uses.

1) Breaking into the tech industry for the first time.
2) As a last option to work in the tech industry.

They do have cert training programs and the like.

Cons

Upward mobility is rather difficult to achieve but it is purely a numbers problem. The pay is utterly horrid for the industry and it changes by contract.

Advice to Senior Management

The main problems are rather difficult to resolve. The pay varies by contract which is also true for what Stream makes on contracts and the lack of upward mobility is a common problem with a large amount of front line staff.

Pros

Co-workers are pretty awesome and it's not (always) minimum wage. That's about it.

Cons

Everything else. Management doesn't care about you... no opportunity for advancement... when there are opportunities, the people who are promoted have nasty attitudes and a penchant for berating those below them. No raises since 2007 or 2008. No yearly recognition. I've been there for 5 years and haven't gotten anything for it, not even a "Hey! Thanks for being loyal." Nothing.

Stream corporate doesn't care about you. Sometimes your client will, but only rarely, and only as much as Stream will allow them to.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on employee retention rather than driving all of the good workers away. The only people you have left after several years are the ones who are incompetent or whose soul and spirit you've destroyed so much they no longer think they're worth anything.

Pros

Great Place to get started on a career as a CSR...good training and skills taught

Cons

it's a call center so time off is always at a premium

Advice to Senior Management

too bad they lost the Adobe contract

Pros

Your paychecks come on time, except the one time when the bank wouldn't honor Stream's paychecks because there was no money in their account (?!). Hours are pretty steady, so you are guaranteed 40 a week. Casual attire is nice, and if you're looking for a short-term job it will definitely fill your needs. There is also a good mix of diverse people working here.

Cons

Employees who have been there the longest are being shuffled out the door before raises are reinstated for the first time in three years. Many employees have been there 2-3 years without ever seeing even a review past their 90 days, and there is no benefit to seniority whatsoever as the turnover rate is so high that more people can just be hired to replace you.

 Promotions go to whoever is the most attractive or popular at the time with little to no regard for actual performance and no communication during the process - multiple people were not given an interview for a position they had been performing without title or paygrade for the entire launch of a new contract. The metrics focused on are often entirely out of agent control and therefore multiple people lose their jobs through no fault of their own.

The attendance policy is strict enough that many people come in dangerously ill, thus infecting everyone else and impacting productivity much more than if they were allowed to take the day off. Team managers are overworked and often put in 60-80 hour weeks just to pull their basic workload, with little to no training on how to do it. At multiple points throughout the day, there were queues of 300+ calls waiting, adding to stress all around.

Basically, if you are looking for somewhere to stay long-term and advance, this is not the place for you. It is definitely a job rather than a career.

Advice to Senior Management

Take a good step back and look at what is going on on your floor. If people are as dissatisfied as they have been for the years I was there, something needs to be changed. Look at your employees as people rather than numbers that are easily replaced.

Pros

You always know where you stand, and what oppurtunities are available.

Cons

they are very numbers dirven, if you don't have the numbers, you're SOL.

Advice to Senior Management

take some of the subjectivity of the customers out of the equation. also be a little more understanding about our lives outside of work.

Pros

Close to Max Line
Weekly Coaching's

Cons

Managers play favorites
Low Salary and benefits
Can't miss any days without penalty with their ridiculous point system
No benefits or extra incentives of doing the job correctly
No raises for some people after working there 3 years!

Advice to Senior Management

Try treating employees like actual people and less time focusing on the Xbox's in the break room

Pros

This company is good for entry level position where one is still building work history after high school or college and would not mind working in a cubicle in general 8-5pm shift, and have weekends off. If one is hired in ad center, managers may schedule your shift according to needs for class schedule. Trainings are paid, hours are constant, although work volume changes daily depending on line of business. Managers treat agents with respect, and co-workers are friendly. Work site is close to the MAX station, and transportation is offered for those parking off campus. Attire is work casual, jeans and t-shirts are permitted but nothing that would expose too much skin or have tears/holes, so atmosphere is laid back. There is also call center but I do not work in this section to give feedback. Agent's work history is meticulously recorded, and if there is any mistake it is pointed out in coaching to be fixed, or praised when one does a good job.

Cons

Advancement is offered but very competitive, as most agents are ramp up new hires from 2010 and does not have years of experience. Wage is slightly above minimum wage, enough to support one's self but not enough to save. Many agents have bachelor's degree's so would consider to be underemployed. Annual increase in wage has not occurred to keep up with inflation, using vacation hour is challenging as limited hours are available. History of heavy lay off. If work volume is low, or client terminates or contract expires, there is risk of being laid off.

Advice to Senior Management

Bi-weekly meeting for each line of business between manager and agent's to have face to face communication would be effective in helping remove a sense of barrier between upper level staff and subordinates. There has been improvement in the interior of the building, but it is still bleak and gloomy with windows covered (to prevent glare on computer screen). It does not feel very welcoming, although it is nice to be allowed to decorate one's cubicle. More recognition for each agent's work performance would boost moral and sense of belonging. There is cliche between all lines of business, there needs to be sharing of common goal and interrelation between all agents. With sedentary work environment, I notice certain agent's gaining weight and risking their health, and many coming in while sick to prevent accruing penalty points. Agent's should not be punished for staying home and using sick time to prevent illness from spreading. New cafeteria's food menu reduced fresh wholesome food and price has increased. With limited parking, incentive to ride bicycle or take public transportation to work would have long term benefit. Discount to local exercise facility would also help agent's stay in shape and implementing these changes would help retain skilled agent's to continue their contribution to Stream Global Services.

Pros

pros:
VERY clear training before you ever hit the phones. Friendly enviornment. Good pay. Casual dress code.

Its fast paced, which does take ggetting used to but its worth it.

When you cant find the answer to a customers questions you can flag down a supervisor and they generally can help find the answer BUT see below for why this is both good and bad.

Cons

There are not enough supervisors on the floor for when agents need them(for things like an imediate question you cant find the answer to.), sometimes the wait is as long as 10 minuets and thats means the customer sits on hold for 10 minuets waiting while you find the answer.

The tools we use are outdated and buggy at best. Often times I have to put the customer on hold under the guise of that i'm "looking up their issue" etc. Cause my tools crashed and I had to reboot them.

Schedualing blows. In my last shift bid not a SINGLE shift had even one day of the weekend off, which means if I ever want to see my family or what not(since i can only see them on weekends) I would have to call in sick or trade my shift with someone else for that day.

The dress code while I listed above as being a good thing is also a bad thing. I sit near one person who from the looks of it wears the SAME clothes everyday and from the smell doesnt wash them. Hygine is listed in our handbooks as something we need to keep up on...yet it doesnt look enforced. Its just disgusting when you can smell someone through the desk dividers.

Advice to Senior Management

Get more supervisors on the floor and enforce the hygine policy other then that keep up the good work :)

Pros

A couple bucks over minimum wage (but devaluing quickly in the face of raise freeze and increasing cost of living in bad economy), close to public transit, casual dress code.

Cons

-Horrible/almost non-existant communication practices on part of management and corporate.
-Rampant favoritism towards hot young girls.
-Glass cielings for long-time workers (unless you're a hot young girl, or a desperate butt-kisser/flirt with no actual job qualifications).
-Non-responsive/ineffectual management: don't read agent e-mails or respond, only deal with e-mails from client/higher corporate), managers never at their desks, either.
-Ineffectual/non-responsive HR: My experience with HR is that they will never give you an answer, always refer you back to your manager (who didn't respond in the first place, which is WHY you end up taking it to HR), and if you do actually get an audience, they don't follow through with further meetings/communication. So much for their being your advocates!
-20 minutes minimum to flag down a resource for help.
-Micromanagement to the extent that I don't know why I'm even doing my job (if P.A.'s, L2's, and Mangagement is going over every little thing I do to the extent that they are, it would be much more efficient if just one of the above "more qualified" parties just did my work instead of me!)
-No annual reviews/RAISES since fiscal year 2007. The company keeps saying it's because of the bad economy, but in the last 3 years they have aquired a whole other BPO company (I'm sorry E-telecare! I feel your pain!) and opened something like a dozen new overseas call centers. Meanwhile, we get press releases all the time about how many awards the company is getting from vendors, and we wonder why it's not trickling down...and strongly believe it should be!
-Huge downsizing of bebefits package over the last few years, they are admittedly now contributing to our 401k's again, but in the face of other benefit cuts/benefit cost increases, it's too little too late.
-Overpriced cafeteria which serves gross, greasy food, also overpriced vending machines as non-alternative to over-priced nasty cafeteria.-In a nutshell, I am a smart, long-term employee who feels totally barred by management and corporate from actually doing my job, much less excelling at it. If the Oregon job market weren't so bad, I would get the Heck out of Dodge!

Advice to Senior Management

-Value experienced employees, advance and compensate them. Stop chasing barely-legal skirts!
-Manage your time better: READ AGENT E-MAILS and RESPOND! Your workforce is your team's/contract's/company's lifeblood! If you don't treat them like humans, your project/contract/company will not eveolve and expand.
-HR: see above. Also, follow through on worker issues, check in. Otherise, what you are doing seems like the same lip service (at best) that we get from Management.
REHUMANIZE THE WORKPLACE!
-Stop stifling your employees with micro-mangement. Give them their heads, and give them accessible/timely help. Expand them rather than stifling them!
-GIVE US OUR EFF-ING WELL-DESERVED AND BLOODY WELL NEEDED RAISES!

Pros

Near the max station.
assigned seating.
pool table in the break room.
Lots of X boxes and flat screen TV's.
health benefits are not horrible.

Cons

No raises past 90 day probationary period.
High turnover rate.
Management not hired for skill, but for personality.
Ugly carpet and fake graffiti on the walls.

Advice to Senior Management

If you invested in your employees instead of game consoles and big screen TV's, people would stick around longer.
:(