Where to start?
Payscale is insulting. They pay 20% or more below market average and lie to your face about what that average is. They offer 2-3% yearly inflation adjustments like every other company in the US and use the spin buzz "merit raise" to make people feel like their work is appreciated. Really bust yourself and you might get an extra 1%, who knows. Want an actual raise? Get a new job. Literally, the only way to get even a tiny raise is to switch jobs. Unsurprisingly this results in people switching jobs every two years and no one really having any idea what is going on in their position. The company gives good bonuses which helps make up for low salaries, but every year our bonuses have been dropping... except for directors and above of course. They still get tons of money (LTI, I am looking at you).
HR used to send out yearly surveys on employee satisfaction, up until 3 years ago when the results showed it had dropped like a rock. Seems like they took to the old addage of "If you don't like the answers then stop asking the questions" because that was the last real survey sent out. Now our yearly surveys are 3 laughable yes/no questions about if you work towards VZW goals every day.
Their idea of career planning tools is a joke. While other companies offer defined career paths based on milestones and tenure that effectively seek out and develop talent, Verizon offers an online tool that lets you enter your qualifications and then sends the form to a black hole where no one will ever see it again. Talented people sit in the same positions and rot because they enjoy what they do but will not get promoted unless they switch to a new department.
The culture of VZW is as mixed as sand in a bag. Since HR does not have any power, there is no single policy or culture inside the company. Each VP runs his group in different ways. Some employees may be allowed to work from home when necessary, have flex-hours, company cell-phones and be promoted within the group. Meanwhile, other employees in a different organization but similar responsibilities are not allowed to work off-site (except as unpaid overtime), need to pay for their own cell phone, and have no prospects for advancement. It really all depends on which desk you land up in. The wonderful aspect of this is that mixing employees that are satisfied with their jobs because they have fair bosses with those who are disatisfied because of fascist bosses breeds inter-company contempt the likes of which should never exist in a F500 company. Again, this company somehow succeeds despite itself.
