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What's It Like Working For Worldcom?
Tetch asks: "I work for a multinational IT company which seems likely to transfer its "network services" team to (MCI-)Worldcom under the terms of a business arrangement (Worldcom's gonna run our company network for us). I'm contemplating transfering from my current position to that network services team but would quite like to know more about Worldcom's corporate culture before taking the plunge (since it seems I'd become a Worldcom employee in fairly short order). Does anyone have any experience of life at Worldcom they could share?" It's always smart to try get an idea of the climate in a company before you you try and sign up.
"Is it all white shirts, and singing the company song at 07:00, or is it T-shirts, jeans, company masseur and free donuts ? Do they work you into the ground till you burn out and then cast you aside with the trash, or do they look after you, nurture your career, notice your contribution without you having to sing your own praises the whole time. Are Worldcom folk *happy* and enthusiastic, content to be a valued part of a committed team effort, or are they cogs in a faceless machine, living in isolation and fear of visits from beancounters looking for yet more cost-savings to make for the stock-holders' benefit?"
If it's anything like the sellouts I've seen working for a big fortune-whatever company, there won't be a lot of change. A year or so a lot of us got "outsourced" to a rather large company. There have been rumors that the rest of us are soon to be IBM employees.
But I don't think it's going to matter much to you. The people I work with that got outsourced got huge (equiv to 6 mos salary) bonuses and generally make 10% higher salary now. Is it saving my company money? Of course not. Outsourcing never does (don't believe that hype--- outsourcing is done so that you can be EXPENDIBLE and FIRED at their whim). But culturally those people didn't change.
As a matter of fact, you have to imagine that the larger consulting firms don't really care about you... you're a number to them, a mercenary for hire, working for them this week. So they don't care. Not only would I not expect anything NICE out of MCI, I wouldn't expect anything much at all...
man, in this job market, if worldcom will pay you for dicking around with computers all day on multi million dollar networks and 16 processor servers... uh take that job.
better than eating ramen.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
Everyone gets an office with a window.
Unfortunately there's an oar coming through the window. A drummer drums, you grab the oar and row as if your life depends on it. Because (heh heh) IT DOES!
1. Those employees that hate working at WorldCom will tell you how bad it is
2. Those that love working at WorldCom will tell you how great it is.
3. You will not know who to trust.
4. The rest of us will be bored out of our minds.
Thank you.
"And like that
I would highly suggest not working for Worldcom. They like a nice PR imagine (see Generation D commercials and whatnot), but on the inside they treat high level technical employees like dirt. I worked there for roughly 4.5 years. During that time, every time they acquired a new company's technical staff, they inevitably found a way to cheat them out of as much benefits as possible before laying them all off at the best time they could find stock-price wise (so that incentive options or profit sharing shares weren't valuable when they were forced to be redeemed). I was an original Worldcom employee, and eventually I suffered the same fate. When the big industry layoffs started they laid off my whole building and forced a short time to excercise then-worthless options which should have been good another 10 years. They did this with no warning to a very advanced research group that was making more progress than 99% of the company, and actually putting out widely-used internal software and showing real numbers for the company. What was preached as a bright and long-term future with the company, and what appeared to be 100's of k worth of stock options turned out to be a quick kick out on the street at their accountant's slightest uninformed whim with just the shirt on your back left.
11*43+456^2
Did they specifically state that they plan on hiring you? Most of the time, they simply obsolesce your presence. It's sort of their business plan.
I'm not ragging on you, but have you gotten any assurances, in writing?
Talisman
"Study your math, kids. Key to the universe." -The Archangel Gabriel
- Private industry gives you more work and usually more challenging work than the government. Conversely, private industry pays better in general. I took a pay cut when I left Worldcom for NASA but I haven't worked a single weekend or evening so far (and it's been over a year now).
- I was a network engineer and they worked me to death. They use salaries to avoid paying you overtime when you get paged in the middle of the night and have to come in at 2am to babysit a router (it happened to me several dozen times). I don't mean to imply that I am p-whipped but my wife forced me to quit that job.
- Worldcom is in a competitive industry and they treat their employees like dirt. You'd be better off working for AT&T, who is the market leader (so they have more cash to throw around).
- Worldcom laid off 1/3 of my office (not including me). How did they do it? They deactivated the employees' access cards so they couldn't get back in after lunch. People got their belongings shipped back to them after several weeks. You be the judge.
- Worldcom consistently screws with payroll to save money. One of my former co-workers noticed one day that the company was taking out a few extra percentage points for Federal income tax, but that extra money didn't show up on his W2. He believes that the company adds a few dollars here and there to payroll deductions as a source of profit.
I could go on, but I won't. It's a Bad Place to Work(tm) and I'd never work there again. Even if I was desperate.~wally
1 - I need to take a shit, what should I do?
2 - Ive decided to go to work today, is that a good descision?
3 - Im watching a really bad show on tv.. im undecided if its ok for me to hit the channel up button, what should I do?
Ya.. this last Ask Slashdot sucks, what does this guy expect..
I consulted at Worldcom in Spring and Summer 2000 at their offices on Centennial Road in Piscataway, NJ. I was part of the Private Network Engineering group, which gets the bigger and more complicated clients.
:)
Here's what it was like when I worked there, followed by what I HEAR its like now:
My work time was split up between drafting customer documents like pretty network maps, configuring routers/switches, and participating in teleconferences to help techs around the world install that equipment after its been shipped. The work was fun if youre the engineering type - but youre not a paper pusher. your creative side has an outlet too as most documents require some artistic skill to appease clients.
The environment was standard cube-farm. I came in contact with project leads and managers all day, and none of them wore anything dressier than slacks. Its a real khakis and polo kinda place. My co-workers were very helpful and even took the time to explain new technologies to me If I was unfamiliar with them. Its not very cut-throat and I was suprised at the HUGE mix of people and educations that did this highly technical work confidently.
Engineers have access to training labs stocked with some pretty serious new equipment. This was probably the coolest thing about Worldcom - the free training. Shared on the network were SCADS of e-training courses from top vendors on subjects as diverse as design, configuration, and administration. We'd have trainers come in on big projects if we were going to be introduced to new vendor equipment. A few times a year you can ask for an outside training course and youll probably get it.
Overall I really liked it and would highly recomend the Piscataway, NJ or White Plains (Rye), NY worldcom offices to anyone involved. Actually the Rye ofice was mad cool with beer on "managers' sick" days and nerf weapons out the wazoo.
Ive heard Worldcom has been plagued with problems lately though. Theyre low on funds to the point taht they sometimes can pre-order the equipment theyll need for a customer. Many of my old co-workers are watching DVDs for days on end for lack of clients. Lets hope the market comes back up for em.
-My 2 cents and THANKS JIM NOCELLA for gettin me that job
Describing the working environment at Worldcom is much like the blind man describing the elephant. There are many reasons for this.
First, you've got your different departments. Like IT, or Network Engineering, or Local Service, or a number of other departments. Each kind of sets it own tune.
Also, your direct management will play a big part in your environment. For example, I see people in the building (during the summer) wearing shorts, t-shirt, and a do-rag or cap.
Third, it also depends on the legacy of the site that you are absorbed into. The true Worldcom side is probably much more laid back than the former MCI side. Of course, UUNet would be different, too, as would legacy MFS (local service). So your location is going to determine which of the merged groups you get into.
So, you've got your department, your local manager, and your merger legacy which all plays a very important role on how your environment will be.
Just to give you my story, when I was a Worldcom employee under IT Infrastructure, the local management was 'uptight'. The department and legacy company (true WCOM) was relaxed. So, only jeans on Friday. All the other days were business casual. Comp time was free flowing. Schedules were laxed. But pay was stingy.
Under EDS, this has changed greatly for me. The local management is relaxed. The legacy (call it EDS now) is... uh... still trying to get a handle on that one. EDS is more feudal in that you work for an 'account' more than you work for 'EDS'. Department is very good. Work at home relaxed. Pay increased significantly. Good deal all around.
[BTW, would you mind emailing me the name of your company?]
Best thing to do is to find out what entities you will be merged into and explore from there. There isn't much way to describe the company as a whole. The only thing I've seen over the past few years is a some shrinking. It is easier to find a parking spot.
Sorry I cannot give a pat answer.
What's it like working for Burger King?
Hey, just give it another 6-8 months and I'm sure the current batch of Slashdot editors will be able to answer that question.
It Depends.
The answer you get is going to be horribly weighted by somebody else's baggage, the circumstances under which they were hired, or fired, even where they were located.
I worked for the Investor Relations department at the corporate headquarters in Clinton, Mississippi. Small department, great people. I loved my job and the people I worked with. The dress was corporate casual, and regular casual on Fridays.
I worked with the Bernie Ebbers, the CEO for a few projects. He's a very nice, polite guy--driven, but many entrepreneurs are like that. Also, he's very tall.
The IT department in Clinton is staffed with great people, the network/Internet/Intranet guys are top-notch and well managed. I still go bowling with them occasionally.
However, some people don't have such nice memories. When Worldcom bought MCI, there was quite a clash of cultures. MCI's IR department had 2.5 times the number of people, and didn't do as good a job as Worldcom did. All of them were laid-off in the merger. MCI had something like 5 corporate jets. Worldcom had 2 corporate jets. Bernie sold most of MCI's immediately. Former MCI people were undergoing "attrition" at a fearsome rate. Worldcom's culture was of a gritty startup, almost. You worked hard, but you were compensated for your effort. MCI was much more corporate, only their stock price reflected that "corporate" wasn't cutting it.
Unfortunately, MCI's marketing department stayed around. This is where you get those really shitty "generation d" commercials. And also why the web site sucks so much now.
This was a few years ago, but from what I can tell, the culture hasn't changed that much--at least, not in Clinton, MS. Other locations are different.
Potato chips are a by-yourself food.