IT Management and Procurement - Anonymous employee Lumen Employee Review

2.0
Oct 23, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Your check is never late, there are three offices in Denver from which to choose from should your manager be that flexible - which is possible. Managing the company's IT purchases is a difficult job, and one made harder by the bizarre and strong personalities of the Director and managers who report up the chain. Their standard of absolute perfection in getting every penny possible out of each vendor is the right one to be sure, but their training program on how to achieve these outcomes is basically non-existent. To be sure, the Director is a force of nature whom everyone short of the CEO is terrified of, but understand that this Director would have been forced out a long time ago if not so very, very good at the job. Personality and management skills are really irrelevant here, the department has one of the highest churn rates in the company and no one stays for longer than 6 months to a year, but it can be relied upon to deliver what it says it will do, when it says it will do it.

Cons

I don't know if this culture was part of Qwest's legacy or not as I wasn't there, but it is a very subdued one - everyone is afraid of being hit during the next round of layoffs that come regular as clock-work if the company doesn't make it's numbers to the street. If you are quiet perhaps they'll forget about you works in zombie movies. Sometimes. If you are hired as a temp-to-perm contractor, place no false hope on anything anyone says about that turning into a real job. If there was a real job they would have hired you permanently already. The reality is that any permanent position in the company, regardless of the level, MUST first attempted to be sourced in Monroe, LA. This is public knowledge as part of the tax deal the company made with the state, but not widely discussed internally. The Duck Dynasty currently has the spotlight for activity in town, but that can't last forever, review all episodes for summary of what your life would be like there (except for reality TV show and Hollywood size paycheck). Your only ray of hope is the fact that there are no accredited institutions of higher learning within driving distance of Monroe, so the farther up the food chain you are the less likely it is that your job can be filled by anyone in town.

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Pros

Easy to learn, manageable schedule, supportive management

Cons

Changes in systems with many malfunctions, confusing workflows, policies set with little guidance (like figure it out yourself)

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Lumen Response
3w
Thank you for leaving an honest review. Because of feedback like yours, we get better every day. Change can definitely be challenging. We believe in helping everyone to reach their full potential so we can all succeed together. We're glad you value our learning systems, agile working model, and management. Thank you again for your feedback. We're happy to have you on the team!
1.0
Jul 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Medical Benefits are very good. Not a lot of micromanagement unless your leader doesnt understand the resources to pull this info. AI is highly encouraged, not required... which is a nice balance.

Cons

Random layoffs every couple months. Kate Johnson doesn't understand the importance of credibility in this space. Q1 customer meetings are majority introduction meetings due to constant account realignment. Leadership pretends to believe they know these are large enterprise accounts, but their actions reflect a transactional sales approach.

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Lumen Response
1w
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We value your input. We're disappointed to hear about your experience at Lumen. Unfortunately, at times, restructuring, reorganizations, or realignment to business realities is needed to drive our continued transformation and company growth. These decisions are difficult and not something we take lightly. Lumen understands the impacts these events have on our employees and provides support and guidance through the challenging transitions. Please reach out to us at CTLHRActionTeam@lumen.com if you would like to discuss anything further. We're glad you value our medical benefits and AI integration. Thank you again for your feedback. We appreciate your hard work!
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