As a tech, you are responsible for a range of things 100% out of your control. If you are given refurbished equipment that fails, you are at fault. If you go to someone's home and they are not there, you are at fault. If customer service sells the wrong product, you are at fault. Att manages it's technicians through harsh, heavy, and frequent discipline. Suspensions are guaranteed. You will work weekends and Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays and in the past year I have yet to work less than 9 hours in a day. Doing the job is easy, following the daily changes in processes is impossible. You are set up to fail then punished for not meeting the companies numbers. Doing the work and pleasing the customer comes after meeting the companies numbers. I've been successful from high school to college to every job I've ever worked at but there is no being successful at ATT. This may sound like a disgruntled employee but in the field of technicians, morale is zero across the board. Very few technicians will make it 3 years before getting fired or quitting. My wife is the equivalent of a single mother. I work through dinner time and t-ball games, school functions and birthday parties. I miss the kids opening gifts on Christmas morning and my past two thanksgivings have been inside a customers home watching them with their families. I've been through 2 managers and 2 second level managers in 2 years. I've been transferred across town without my approval. I've worked in 4 different crews and they're all exactly the same. Discipline, discipline, discipline. My first write up was only 2 weeks after I started. I haven't met another employee who has any less than 2 write ups in the past 6 months.
Examples
As a tech, you take your work phone home. A tech had his car window smashed and his work phone was stolen. He gave management a police report and was suspended for 3 days. A loss of about $600 in pay.
The company gives you x amount of time to perform a task. They will give you 20minutes to run a wire from the top of the pole to the home. They don't care if it's storming, if you have to climb 3 poles, or you're running it through trees. You get 20 minutes. If you can't do it in 20 minutes, you're put on an action plan. An action plan is a list of things you must further do to prove you're working as fast as you can. It may involve calling your manager when you start, when you end, and taking before and after pictures. He may also require you to run copper tests on that wire as well. However, you do not get more than 20 minutes to complete the action plan and thus will get suspended for not complying.
If you can not complete a job for any reason, this will count against you. If the customer isn't home, if AT&T isn't available in their area, if they cancelled 4 days ago and load management still sent you, if you're dispatched out by customer service to remove a tree, fill a hole, cut comcast lines off the house, patch drywall, remove satellite dishes, or any other erroneous task that is not in our scope of work, it will count against you.
If you install or repair services and lightning strikes or power surges kill the equipment, you obviously didn't do your job right because another tech has to go back to your job and fix it. You will get written up and/or suspended.
Micromanagement is extreme. If someone is not home, AT&T process is to take a picture of yourself standing at their front door for proof. You call your manager for absolutely everything. If he doesn't answer or read the texts or emails, it's your fault for not staying in touch and you will be written up for whatever actions you choose without his approval. This means if you get to a house and someone isn't home, you must wait on your manager to call that customer even though you've called them. You are not given time for this process. The vehicle is tracked with an extensive GPS unit that automatically reports to your manager your position and speed.
You are allowed to drive 2 miles for lunch. If there is no restaurant in 2 miles and you drive further, you are out of process and will get suspended. You can eat in your truck but are not allowed to idle your truck so you must sit in the heat.
Process says if you do not complete a job, you only get 15 minutes credit. You drive 20 minutes to their home, knock and call for 10 minutes. AT&T says you MUST wait in their drive way for 15 minutes before you are able to return the job. Not counting the calls to your manager, you've now wasted 45 minutes that you get 15 minutes credit for and are now behind in your numbers because you've followed process and will be disciplined. If you leave earlier than this, you are out of compliance and will be disciplined.
Absolutely horrible company with immoral ethics, stressful work environment, hostile management, and morbid business practices.
