Zayo reviews

3.5

61% would recommend to a friend

(1,285 total reviews)

Steve Smith

60% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Zayo has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 1,285 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Zayo employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Telecommunications industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
1.0
Dec 18, 2014

I was shocked...

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great network. Talented people working there in many positions.

Cons

There is so much that I sturggle to choose what to say. I will focus on on what led up to my departure and a couple of cheap punches thrown since then. I will say, however, that the critics of Zayo, overall, are NOT bitter ex-employees (nor am I). What they are saying is true. First, I was responsible for a few, global, named, enterprise accounts. Business from these types is generally large and infrequent (as opposed to transactional and steady). I brought two LARGE deals to the table with two new logos within my first 4 months at the company. They were sincerely willing to consider Zayo as a new provider. However, Zayo was not willing to be financially creative in order to get it's foot in the door. I am not talking about necessarily taking a loss. I am talking about flexibility in order ot bring on new, recognizeable and respected logos. Second, Zayo took my only account that WAS providing and transacitonal revenue and re-classified it to a new overlay group, which is does frequently. Third, when the new comp plan came out, I was shocked. All variable comp plans give the organization the ultimate ability to make changes on their own terms should they see fit to do so. However, this particular comp plan modification scared me so much that I generated an email including hte beow verbiage to my boss and requested it be placed in my HR file. "...While I will sign the new comp plan because I have no choice but to do so, I want to be on the record as having serious, SERIOUS concerns about it. It effectively creates a situation where individual contributors cannot track, forecast or, in the end, impact our income in any meaningful way. Not only does it take away the ability to predict from performance to pay, but it clearly highlights in TWO places that payout can be adjusted in any magnitude up or down at any time for reasons that may or may not be shared or have anything to do with the contributors performance...I have no idea how to have a discussion with my husband that goes something like, “Well, I am supposed to make the same variable comp at plan according to what the paper says, but I cannot predict, forecast or influence it. I have no idea how or when I will find out what I am getting paid and I have no basis for appealing it should I either disagree or not understand....It would be financially irresponsible of me to be okay with this plan. I appreciate you making these feelings known and have no issues with you tacking my name to the complaint. I would be shocked if anyone actually WAS okay with this plan." By this time, I was already looking. The new comp plan simply accelerated my search. Once I found my new position and gave my notice, I was told (after asking in writing 4 times) that my MBO compensation would be $0 because I was not at quota attainment. I had exceeded every MBO component. I explained that the very purpose of MBO was to provide incentive copensation based on something OTHER than sales attainment. Commissions are from sales attainment, MBO payments are fro other performance elements. The response I got was a silent, shaking head - back & forth - "no" - that was it. So, in fact, my worst concerns about the new comp plan that the executive management seems so defensive of came true at the very first opportunity. (Please re-read the previous paragraph for a reminder of those concerns.) Finally, just today, almost 2 months in to my new job, I completed the request to roll over my Zayo 401K to my IRA. Three things here. First, as a heads up, there is no employer match for 401K contributions. Second, between the expiration of the 4 months waiting period to commence MY contributions and TODAY, my account made a whopping 0.4% (that's not 4%, but 4/10 of 1%). Finally, I was informed by the 401K steward company that Zayo charges a $50 fee to get my money out of this doozie of an investment plan. I will leave the readers with one thought.....OF COURSE ZAYO CHARGES ME $50 TO GET MY MONEY OUT OF THE 401K THA TTHEY DON'T CONTRIBUTE TO. WHY WOULD I HAVE THOUGHT ANY DIFFERENTLY. I JUST CHUCKLED.

avatar
Zayo Response
11y
Our new sales comp plan is not a good fit for some, but will be an excellent fit for many. We tie payouts to overall sales results, both at the company level and down to sales teams. The goal is the overall pool is funded (by results!!!) such that financial rewards are plentiful. As the comp plan is fully employed, I suspect Zayo will have the strongest, most capable, most motivated, and best paid sales org in our industry. Those who embrace it will excel.
3.0
Dec 11, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Smart people who are happy to get their hands dirty to get the job done. A comical cultural experience, once you learn to roll with the punches, centered on the CEO's whims and whimsy. Salesforce.com based processes in all areas of the business, hello more simplicity than your average telco. The investment and network development thesis the CEO has is spot on! The financial mindset and management of the company are in a word, bonkers! No else does it like Zayo does and it's beautiful. I say this all as an employee who was treated poorly even for Zayo, but with that said, I would recommend it if you have a thick skin and want to know how a telco should work; not from a culture perspective but from an investment perspective.

Cons

No reward for the insane amount of talent they have. Rewards are based on who manages up, who socializes with the CEO and who can talk to best game. Sometimes these are the talented people, most often they are not. Backstabbing executive culture where everyone is trying to cover their butts from one another and the CEO leading to poor management, leadership, communication and vision. Irrational amount of power granted to MBAs who are poor performers, not because they are bad but because they have not matured and had the experience of getting ahead through merit. Trial by fire does not always lead to a good outcome, very few people actually learn that way. Everyone has their own set of rules, what's fine in one team, or one person, is not fine for others breeding a deep cynicism among the employee base. The untapped momentum that Zayo COULD have if it's employees felt like the management team cared and would reward them appropriately. Zayo could be the best telco in the industry in terms of performance and employee engagement and I tend to believe the two are related.

avatar
Zayo Response
11y
Thanks for the post. I don't know exactly what whims and whimseys you have in mind, but I do push Zayo hard to exploit the opportunity in front of us. Focus on Infrastructure, commitment to Salesforce.com, Tranzact, Big Data, equity IRR, SPG structure, quarterly bonus, and RSU plan could be described as my whims. To establish ourselves as industry leaders, we need to excel in a fluid environment. We must push hard. Zayo's success is undeniable. To think this could have been achieved in an environment as you describe is nonsensical. Motivated, capable, hard-working employees -- operating with a lot of teamwork and solid leadership -- is what made this happen. The financial and professional development rewards to employees are every bit as compelling as the rewards to investors. We can be better no doubt, including in areas you highlighted. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you.
1.0
Jul 23, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I met some good people through out my time there. None of them stayed there very long.

Cons

Zayo expects the world from you and gives nothing in return. If you enjoy being taken advantage of you'll enjoy working here. If it's important to you to feel respected and valued as an employee, don't consider working at here. Zayo will suck you dry and once they do that they'll still expect more from you while paying you far below market value with no hope to receive raises. Not only that but they'll continue to string you asking by promising bonuses to offset the low salary and they will never deliver. There's a reason young people can move into management so quickly... because no one who has experience in the industry will stick around and deal with the abusive culture. This means there is no foundational knowledge among leadership and things are in a constant state of chaos. Management will laugh this off by saying "the only constant at Zayo is change." Long hours are expected, your personal time outside of the office isn't respected and pay is far too low to warrant these expectations. This isn't Wall Street. Stop expecting employees to work like it for below market pay. Start to treat employees with some respect and learn to value them. A company is nothing without its employees. Zayo doesn't care as long as the executives get their money. The culture is driven by greed and the contaminated roots grow rotten fruit in the form of an extremely toxic culture. There's a reason Zayo has so many negative reviews. It's not just because of disgruntled ex-employees... It's because people know they are worth more and don't want to let others fall into the trap that is Zayo. Consider yourself warned.

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