Vantaggi
Getting a steady paycheck and the great friends I've made at work
Svantaggi
Pay: Not too bad if you're right out of college & this is your first job. They have made it nearly impossible to get a decent raise, because they have set goals that only about 10% of employees can meet. A large number of people will be getting no raises under the current performance measurements. Respect: You will be treated with respect only if you are willing to lie, cheat, deceive unsuspecting claimants and work off the clock for free to get them the superhuman numbers they want. Otherwise, you are dirt and they will make sure you know it. Corporate Management is the impetus behind the horrible treatment of the Farmers employees. They have zero interest in the well-being of their employees and even less for their customers. They have some serious sociopaths in upper management. Corporate Management doesn’t even pretend to follow their own Corporate Values. The local managers hide in their offices and seldom come out. They probably have a hard time looking people in the eye. I don’t blame them. They should feel ashamed. Benefits: Profit sharing was the best part of working for Farmers and has been eliminated.Corporate has devised a “better” plan, in which average Joe Worker is guaranteed to get next to nothing but Upper Mgmt will get huge bonuses if goals are met . This “better“ plan guarantees that the workers will be beaten down and ground into the dirt so that upper management will get good bonuses. They have also done away with the fully paid pension plan. The medical benefits are very expensive and have high deductibles. Working from home used to be a big plus, but now, in order to keep everybody under their thumbs (micro-management), they want everybody in the office. Company cars used to be a big plus, but now they are yanking those, too. The technology used by this company is a joke. Far beyond outdated. Job Security: None. You will never feel secure here. If job security is important to you or you would like to work for a company that you can retire from, RUN, don’t walk from Farmers. Over the past couple of years, the management style has gone from one where employees were treated well and considered to be the company’s most valuable asset to a climate of threats, intimidation and fear. You can be a top performer one month, then the next month you’ll feel like your job is on the line. You are only as good as your last audit score. After all, your division manger’s bonus depends on your audit scores. And you had better score a 92 or better or you’ll be in total fear of losing your job. They do not care how many years of loyal service you have given them. Performance Management, terminations and retirements are at an all time high. There are very few people with 10-15-20+ years with this company. Managers are discarded regularly, like used Kleenex. Employees used to be passionately loyal to this once-great company. Now, most of the company’s employees people despise Farmers. Work/Life Balance: None. Farmers will give you an inhuman workload and expect every claim be perfect. You will be nano-managed to the point you can’t even do your job efficiently. Management no longer cares about whether you did the right thing, handled the claim well or took care the customer; only that the claim file passes the auditor’s specifications, which are extremely nit-picking, demanding and require lots of repetitive activity, such as copy/pasting here, here, here and here. Don’t forget a copy/past activity or your audit score will be in the toilet. Most Reps secretly work off the clock (unpaid) just to breathe. If you ask for overtime, you will be treated as though you have a time management problem. Farmers likes telling employees that the offices are “over-staffed,” when the Reps are drowning and dying all over the place. It’s another way to make employees fear for their jobs. There is high turnover and the constant reassignment of other peoples old claims makes meeting your goals next to impossible. The pressure and stress of dealing with this day after day, while being treated like crap has put a lot of people of medication. Did I forget to mention the Meetings, Meetings and More Meetings? And the Training, Training and More Training? You will not be given adequate time to get your work done. When you are not working for Farmers, you will be stressed out thinking about the work you didn’t get done for Farmers. Not a good place to work for people who like to have an outside life. Career Potential/Growth: Very Good. But only if you don’t care about being involved with your family, your kids activities, your hobbies, free time, going to church, or pretty much doing anything else but working for or thinking about Farmers Insurance 24/7. If you are willing to have no personal life, no ethics or conscience and are willing to treat decent people like human garbage, the sky is the limit. Just don't expect to last long, as managers are chewed up and spit out with this organization. Location: It doesn’t matter. They will promise to give you claims close to where you live, but will make your drive extremely long distances (hours) whenever the need arises. Oh, but make sure you get all your work done! Co-Worker Competence: The few who have been around for awhile are very competent and try to be helpful to others as much as their own manic workload will allow, which isn‘t much. The competent people are so worried about getting their own work done that they are no longer willing to take the time to help others. The “competent” people are good at teaching the newbies how to lie, cheat and create the illusion that the company is looking for. Management knows this, but doesn’t care. As long as it looks good on paper. Work Environment: It’s sort of like Nazi Concentration Camp meets Survivor. Or maybe Hell. Management response to poor morale is to increase the beatings.