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Alcatel-Lucent

Acquired by Nokia

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Business Development Leader - Business Development Leader Alcatel-Lucent Employee Review

2.0
Jan 25, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pretty good work-life balance . Salary is OK. Decent people to work with. Ability to work remotely or telecommute most of the time. Nice 401K match -- full 6%. Decent number of vacation days.

Cons

Old, dying company (even when merged with Nokia) in a declining segment (telco). Systems, process and tools are antiquated beyond description (think late 1990's or early 2000's). Salary is OK--but total compensation is WELL below industry as there are NO bonuses (or not worth mentioning) and sales targets are purposefully set so as to be un-achievable. Mid-Level and mid-senior management (ALU) is out of their depth or unable to make the difficult decisions necessary. Most mid-level managers and up are not seasoned professionals in that specific area. But, rather generalist managers shifted into "leadership" roles.. Only exceptions are product development and sales where the vast majority are in their chosen fields. With the exception of Mobility, NFV and Nuage (SDN), the rest of the product portfolio is well beyond its years and declining. Nothing exciting or new for developers or sales. This company has languished in mediocrity for so long, the people no longer recognize the situation. Most decent technology and sales professionals have either left this company long ago or spend very little time here before departing to greener pastures. What is left are those that are content with mediocrity or are not employable elsewhere. Advise to those considering ALU/Nokia: Don't stay too long (2 years maximum).

Explore other reviews about Alcatel-Lucent

5.0
Jan 12, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

ALU afforded me many opportunities and the pay was great.

Cons

I can't think of any

2.0
Jun 11, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The workers at Alcatel-Lucent, at least the former Lucent employees since I worked almost exclusively with these folks, were among some of the smartest and most conscientous I ever worked with. The people who tried really cared and carried the company.

Cons

Alcatel brought with it a lot of the classic characteristics of bad French management. ("Why make it simple when we can make it complex?") Lucent has all the characteristics of a former 100-year old monolpoly. Its management is full of managers who never had to be efficient or organized (since it was based on a "cost plus" revenue system while Ma Bell ran the US phone system). In fact, the more people it hired and the more it spent on useless ideas, the more money it made! It has horrible compensation systems for its management and salesforce (paying for sales, not for profits). The company is very badly organized and while some departments are working 60+ hour weeks, others are fairly useless and make it hard for the productive groups to get real, very needed work done. They promote rah-rah cheerleaders into management who have no clue how to manage except to support the people who suck up to them. There is no well-integrated strategy for the company, and this leads to scattershot efforts at doing anything to have a good quarter, even if it means robbing next quarter's sales and profits.

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