Bitter USAA Message Board

[Twisted_Dawg]

http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/USAA...3c137e1e737942

A bitter friend of mine who worked at USAA for 23 years before she got kicked to the curb, sent me this link of current & former employees posting threads. Its about 10-1 in posts knocking USAA. It is not shocking or surprising as I know many people that have been "eliminated" there the last few years. They have a 20/40/60 unwritten rule: if you have worked there 20 years, are over 40 and make over 60K.......you are gone!!!! I do hear from current employees the pressure is unbearable.

It used to be one of the greatest companies in the world under Gen. McDermott...now it is a ious place to exist. They should rename the place USSR Insurance Company.

[dimsah]

Sounds like my job or any other job for a greedy, soulless corporate monster.
Machiavellian executives, under staffing and brutal hours (salaried employees don't get overtime pay). Constant tension in the air and everyone is miserable. It's a shame because as little as 2 years ago it wasn't like that but they hired a new CIO (unbelievable temper) and he's making changes with a broad brush. It's not a pleasant environment to work in.

No incentive to go above and beyond anymore because most of us have been told that you'll be paid according to your le and not the results you produce.

[Twisted_Dawg]

Sadly, you are basically correct. Most of these corporations will grind you up and spit you out. There are some exceptions though. Valero employees seem happy and insurance giant State Farm has not fired all of its long time employed hard working "older" employees like USAA has. I work for one of the world's largest insurance companies in the world and they leave us alone and don't threaten us.

[scott]

I expecting to read a bunch of people complaining because they had been canned, but that is a pretty good read of people who appear to have taken a fairly objective look at it.

I didn't realize employees were not allowed/encouraged not to email outside of the company. That explains why I've had some go unanswered from friends there!

I passed on an offer from USAA that would have represented a 50% raise for me, and now I'm happier than ever that I did!

[01Snake]

I worked in that hole right outta college. Best thing I ever did was leave that place. Way too structured with WAY too many managers. Constant monitoring of everything you did from time on the phone to how long you took for lunch.

As far as the 20/40/60 thing stated above, it sure seemed that way when I was there. Just before I left was about the time they started cutting those people loose. While it was a pretty ty thing for the company to do, it made business sense. You could hire Joe straight out of college for $35K a year who can basically do the exact same job you are paying Steve $60K a year to do. What makes more sense?

Lastly, the place was filled with a ton of overweight people. Not sure how some of them managed to walk. I guess being chained to a desk all day could result in a lot of people gaining weight.

[exstatic]

You could hire Joe straight out of college for $35K a year who can basically do the exact same job you are paying Steve $60K a year to do. What makes more sense?

Except they won't do the same job. Not all are like this, but after the CIO of my firm blocked MySpace and Facebook, young'uns actually called the help desk to report it as a problem. As a general rule (though not all inclusive) you just don't get the productivity out of the workers fresh out of college, not even close. They don't have the same mindset as the 20/40/60 crowd. They come in when they feel like it, talk endlessly on their phone or cell phone, and take long lunches on the regular. This is definitely a case where you get what you pay for, almost exactly. The youngster will be cheaper, but less productive, and will lack the corporate knowledge of that 20/40/60 that you kicked to the curb. They'll also leave when things don't go their way.

[Twisted_Dawg]

I have a good friend who works in the HR dept at USAA. She said it is brutal they way they fire people. They pull you from your desk unexpectedly and get you in a conference room and tell you your position is "eliminated". Then they escort you to the door with a guard. They used to let you go back to your desk with a guard and have one hour to clean out personal effects. Never mind the times you worked sick, or worked for free on a Saturday "catching up". Never mind you are just a few years from retirement.

Actually, you are the one that is eliminated....not the position. Many times it will show back up on the job postings 6 months later, or some independent contractor is hired to do it.

[ashbeeigh]

As a general rule (though not all inclusive) you just don't get the productivity out of the workers fresh out of college, not even close. They don't have the same mindset as the 20/40/60 crowd. They come in when they feel like it, talk endlessly on their phone or cell phone, and take long lunches on the regular.

Until I saw the although not all inclusive thing. I'm one of those fresh out of college kids who works 500% more then the people who aren't out of school. I've held back from telling everyone I work at West for the past few months and I know this started out as a USAA thread so I'm jumping the topic a little bit...but here it goes....

The rule is phone off. Mine is off. I make my phone calls during my 10 minute breaks or during my lunch. Which I'm back for on time. There's people that show up to work once or twice aweek and say "Oh my daughter was sic. "bull . You just didn't want to come to work. I can't stand that. If I were a manager you'd be fired before you even started working.

I went to lunch with two older ladies on Friday and I looked at my watch and said, "Hey we should go...": they said "they'll kiss my ass. I'll be there when i get there." But that also has to do with disillusionment of the management in such a huge corporation like snake01 said about USAA.

I worked in that hole right outta college. Best thing I ever did was leave that place. Way too structured with WAY too many managers. Constant monitoring of everything you did from time on the phone to how long you took for lunch.

I work on an ATT project and we're selling business to business products to California. We have 5-7 managers out there for about 21 people on the the floor. 20 dials per hour, 5 hours of talk time, and you need to sell 5 DSLs a month. We're not on an automatic dialer and if you do the math with an 8 hour shift 8 hours of talk time is nonstop talking without getting up. Those goals are ridiculous.

And then, the managers, as a group came to consensus this past week that we had to have X number of sales last week or we would be fired. Good ing thing I had those.

I'd almost rather be working at USAA. And how about those insurance rates? I'll take those over my $108 Progressive rates in a hearbeat.

I have a good friend who works in the HR dept at USAA. .

And don't even get me started with HR at a big corporation...I went into an interview for a senior sales associate position and the rep said ....to my face..."I don't know how you got the sales associate position... you're not qualified..." eat fat ass. Do you see some of the people working here?

[exstatic]

Lest it appear that I'm just picking on fresh graduates, I'll give you an example of a recent ex-co-worker. She's a 30-something. We had two software developer positions to fill early in 2006, and were having a hard time doing so. She applied, received an offer, and took it back to her other company, who matched it, and she stayed there. Like 4-5 months later, she was knocking on our door again, and my boss hired her. She stayed a grand total of like 15 months, and recently put in her notice and took another position. I couldn't stand to work like that. My job is SO much easier the more I know the system that I'm working on. I can spot trends, stuff I've seen before, stuff similar to stuff I've seen before.

Like I said, a different mindset.

[ashbeeigh]

Like I said, a different mindset.

I think I've heard people make 6-8 career changes in their life, that was just one of hers. Ya know? I can see your frustration, though. And I think my own personal dedication to my job is a little out of the norm for the age group as a whole. A lot of people I know work like I do, but then you get the people who move jobs, think they can get a better one down the street, have more 'experience,' or just want to do something different. Just like one of 5-7 managers says, " It is what it is."

[Twisted_Dawg]

It is a two way street.....many ( not all) of the younger crowd don't have a clue...BUT big employers (most of them) treat people like

USAA treats people like dog

[exstatic]

It is a two way street.....many ( not all) of the younger crowd don't have a clue...BUT big employers (most of them) treat people like

USAA treats people like dog

I won't argue that. My point is that they may not be getting over like they think they are. In addition to being heartless, laying off the 20/40/60s may just be stupid and bad business.

[USA Employee]

I do not understand the people of America they want to save money then they when they lose their jobs to the people willing to work for less pay.

______________________________________

eat more curry!

[CharlieMac]

I remember they tried to hire me and offered me a well-paying position. I was in my last semester of college and it sounded like a great opportunity. Till they told it me it was under the condition that I start training the following week and I needed to postpone my graduation.

that.

[exstatic]

I do not understand the people of America they want to save money then they when they lose their jobs to the people willing to work for less pay.

______________________________________

eat more curry!

BEST

TROLL

EVER

[Twisted_Dawg]

[QUOTE=USAA Employee]I do not understand the people of America they want to save money then they when they lose their jobs to the people willing to work for less pay.

You mean like those IT jobs that USAA gave to those workers form India that live across Fredericksburg Rd. from from the campus and are independent contrators?

p.s. Did you get permission form USAA to use their logo? This site will be shut down by the morning.

[Extra Stout]

I have a good friend who works in the HR dept at USAA. She said it is brutal they way they fire people. They pull you from your desk unexpectedly and get you in a conference room and tell you your position is "eliminated". Then they escort you to the door with a guard. They used to let you go back to your desk with a guard and have one hour to clean out personal effects. Never mind the times you worked sick, or worked for free on a Saturday "catching up". Never mind you are just a few years from retirement.

Actually, you are the one that is eliminated....not the position. Many times it will show back up on the job postings 6 months later, or some independent contractor is hired to do it.

GE under Jack Welch epitomized that business strategy. GE would scoop up a company, rape its work force, squeeze every bit of life out of the business for short-term profit, then throw out the emaciated carcass in a fire sale to some other company, who would have to rebuild it.

The strategy actually destroys billions of dollars in capital, but individual executives and short-term investors can make a killing.

In a privately-owned company like USAA, what this means is that Bob Davis and select other executives are just going to rape and pillage USAA for their own personal enrichment, until the company is near collapse, at which point they will sell it.

This sort of thing is perfectly legal in the USA; business schools actually encourage it. Jack Welch is hailed as a visionary, when he really should be given the Mussolini treatment.

[Nbadan]

The HB-1 Visas that these contractors use to work in the U.S. should be put up for bid so that their true value to corporations can be realized....right now, companies complain that they can't make a profit without them and want even more, yeah right...more like another corporate subsidy that goes untaxed....

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Except they won't do the same job. Not all are like this, but after the CIO of my firm blocked MySpace and Facebook, young'uns actually called the help desk to report it as a problem. As a general rule (though not all inclusive) you just don't get the productivity out of the workers fresh out of college, not even close. They don't have the same mindset as the 20/40/60 crowd. They come in when they feel like it, talk endlessly on their phone or cell phone, and take long lunches on the regular. This is definitely a case where you get what you pay for, almost exactly. The youngster will be cheaper, but less productive, and will lack the corporate knowledge of that 20/40/60 that you kicked to the curb. They'll also leave when things don't go their way.

This is the biggest pile of unmitigated horse that i have ever seen. Those 20/40/60 people are all baby boomers which are easily the worst generation of failure in the last century.

Post 1976 with the end of the Vietnam Era and what was essentially a fiat for them, they took all that momentum and took a proverbial . It is no coincidence that generations legacy is mountains of unprecedented debt from the national level all the way down to almost every household in the country. Combine that with consistently shortsighted policies on energy and the like and quite frankly the baby boomer generation ed EVERYTHING up for the rest of us. The fact that i have to pay Social Security for that generation just pisses me off.

Its so typical of a baby boomer to sit their and rail about someone from generation X being 5 minutes late but then gloss over how their own production absolutely blows. Having worked someplace for 20 years is immaterial when youre MUCH more expensive to retrain and are more resistant to it and when youre replacements production is negligibly different.

As far as Im concerened that generation has been screwing things up for the rest of us for long enough and now its time someone else got a turn.

[Nbadan]

Geezz...If he's that pissed off now, just wait for a few years when Fuzzy has to pay 50% of his income in taxes so that baby boomers can afford to cool their McMansions....

[2centsworth]

USAA has been a huge plus for the City of San Antonio. We just need more large corporations to produce increased compe ion for the labor pool. Right now USAA and others have it made.

IMO, more times than not, the employees that get canned got fat and stopped trying to add value to their companies. In general, people feel so en led.

I wish everyone would take a shot at owning their own business for a little perspecitve.

Is USAA perfect? NO, but to now consider them an "EVIL Corportation" is ridiculously stupid.

[ashbeeigh]

Is USAA perfect? NO, but to now consider them an "EVIL Corportation" is ridiculously stupid.

I don't think anyone was calling them perfect, it was just a discussion about their general habits.

[2centsworth]

I don't think anyone was calling them perfect, it was just a discussion about their general habits.

Well they have generally good habits. Of course, it's the bad that garners all the attention.

[Nbadan]

...by that standard alone in just a few short years, all our jobs would be offered to someone who is likely more qualified, more hungry and would work for far less....remember that China and India are putting out college degrees, with candidates who are far more qualified, than those put out by the average American university....

[ashbeeigh]

Well they have generally good habits. Of course, it's the bad that garners all the attention.

Of course. When people have good experiences do they run and tel ltheir friends..." I had the best cashier at Wal-Mart today!!" or do they run and tell their friends, "I had the worst cashier today at Wal-Mart...they packed the bread, eggs, and ing canned meat all in one bag!!" They remember the latter. How many threads do we have here about good experiences? 1 or 2... on bad a bazillion.