Vantaggi
Many of the manager and directo levels are here from the old Savvis days. Those people "get it" when it comes to work-life balance, recognition/rewarding employees, open and HONEST communication, etc. Unfortunately as more and more employees and executives jump ship... even this is changing. Most managers understand the need for a work-life balance and will make sure you take your vacation, work from home or take off when you'r'e sick, allow flex schedules to work around life's issues. But if you don't have the good managers, your balance could slip to work-work when even your days off are not your own.
Svantaggi
Bad leadership starts at the top and rolls downhill. The CEO is completely out of touch with both his employees and the nature of the business now that they own a hosting company. ALL executive leadership is from the CenturyLink mothership and still think they're in the low cost - high revenue days when CenturyLink was just a telco. There are 2 female executives, but until recently NEITHER of them was allowed to speak at an all hands meeting... despite the fact they are in charge of major organizations. Decisions are made at slower than a snail pace - if they're made at all, and EVERYTHING has to be reviewed all the way up the chain. Morale is at an all time low. Leadership and reporting structures are constantly being reorganized, and it appears very little thought is actually put into how this will effect the company or customers. It seems heavily slanted to politics and the good ol' boy system. Staffs are frequently reduced and sometimes whole orgs are eliminated. There's been a hiring freeze for months - unless your VP has enough clout to get an exception from HQ - so critical positions are left unfilled. Almost all positions approved before the freeze were required to be located in Monroe, Louisiana... because the state gave CTL a grant to build a tech center. Unfortunately, most people don't want to move there, and the area cannot support the requirements of many positions. Even if they did, the city doesn't have the supporting infrastructure for most spouses to get jobs. The pay isn't bad, but getting ahead is practically impossible. Titles (and the pay tied to them) are assigned without reasoning. No one can explain the difference between a "Lead" vs. "Senior" position or a project manager I v. project manager II, and there is no way to learn how to move between the two. Traditional benefits are getting more expensive and less good every year. Most recently they stopped offering a PPO plan and required everyone to go on very high deductible plans. ALL medication must be purchased by mail - even more controlled prescriptions that require a new handwritten prescription each month. (Previously your doctor could fax it in to your local pharmacy). Dental and vision are pretty good. 401k matching is mediocre. CenturyLink has practically eliminated tuition reimbursement because to qualify for reimbursement, each course must pertain directly to your current job. Try convincing them that having an analyst with an MBA would actually help the company. The degree requires a course in marketing, but if your job doesn't involve marketing... it's not covered. Non-traditional benefits aren't uniform across offices. For example, to "save money" coffee was removed from all offices, but the group in Seattle gets a choose your flavor Coke machine and BEER KEG. Other offices were forced to cancel their annual holiday events, but the Monroe office still has their parties.
