The management team seems to be in over their head. - Anonymous employee Lumen Employee Review

1.0
Jul 16, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The best part is the friends I've made there amongst my peers. The benefits are decent. I'm thankful for the union.

Cons

CTL management seems to be in over their head with the acquisition of Qwest. The acquisition moved them into a very competitive market and it seems they were not prepared. They have resorted to a micro-management style in an attempt to keep their heads above water. CTL also insists on using vendors for some of the call center work who are poorly trained. Much of my job has become fixing the mess a vendor created (somehow the company is still convinced that vendors are saving us money). Not only is the quality of work poor from vendors, the customer service is as well. We get many complaints from customers who get transferred numerous times to reach the right department and who are given misinformation along the way that the more seasoned reps then have to dismantle and give the right info to the customer. All this takes repeated call backs from customers. We are seeing problems crop up with internet as well. Fiber doesn't do too well over copper. More and more of our customers are getting rid of our internet because we cannot get it working right for them. BTW, if you get a tech in the Philippines their answer is to send out a new modem (that's what happens when you stump the Philippine band (and it's fairly easy to stump them)... it must be the modem!. CTL's unifying principles and core values are a joke. Upper management needs to follow them and lead by example. Basically they are about 4 decades behind the times as to the most productive way to lead an organization. They need to take their marbles and go home.

Explore other reviews about Lumen

5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Overall great culture and team

Cons

Fully remote, not too much interaction with coworkers

avatar
Lumen Response
1w
Thank you for your feedback. We value your input. We have embraced an agile working model for select roles, enabling colleagues to work from home or in a blended, hybrid model. We're glad you value our culture and your team. Thank you for all the time you spent at Lumen. We wish you all the best with the next step in your career.
1.0
Jul 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Medical Benefits are very good. Not a lot of micromanagement unless your leader doesnt understand the resources to pull this info. AI is highly encouraged, not required... which is a nice balance.

Cons

Random layoffs every couple months. Kate Johnson doesn't understand the importance of credibility in this space. Q1 customer meetings are majority introduction meetings due to constant account realignment. Leadership pretends to believe they know these are large enterprise accounts, but their actions reflect a transactional sales approach.

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