Working at ACS — Reviews by Employees

I have worked at ACS for only a few months, and to be honest I began looking for new work after my first day of working here. There were nice people scattered throughout the company, but overall I was almost embarassed to be in such a Company. I only accepted since I had lost a great job and needed income, it was temporary in my mind from the get go.

Pay: It was average. Promise of a good bonus, but I believe that number will be skewed by the merger with Xerox. They have some calculation for a transitional bonus that I cannot even figure out...

Respect: Not that I was ever disrespected...but I felt as though there was an overall lack of respect for peoples time and personal commitments. Dont work on a Project implementation here if you have a family, or need to take a vacation day. People work non stop and yet nothing gets done. I refused to give in to that. I'm a hard worker, and work extra when need be - but it seemed like people expected it everyday and weekend. I'm sorry, unless it was urgent or critical my time after work and on weekends is with my children. If you keep your calendar up to date on Outlook, nobody pays attention to it - you were expected to Jump when they said jump...so nothing ever got accomplished. Working on a Project Plan that was 8000 rows and not finished halfway through the second phase of a three phase project is unfathomable. At my prior jobs, I would have had my ass handed to me for the size of the plan, inability to have it managed or looked at by the resources that were all over it.

Benefits: I didn't participate in the Health etc as my wife has good benefits, but they didnt match 401k here? They manage other companies contributions, matches etc...but can't come up with a 401k plan themselves that matches some percentage. I'm moving on to a company that matches $:$ up to 3% of my income, and then .50$ on the dollar from 4-6%. That makes me feel pretty good about making some contributions. I threw the paperwork away from ACS the minute in came in the mail...like I said, I knew this would be temporary.

Job Security: I don't know. I've heard many people were let go, and some rehired. In my group people are joining all the time. My best guess is some wont still be around when the implementation projects cease. I didn't feel a big sense of job security.

Work/Life Balance: I mentioned this before. AWFUL!!! I was truly embarrassed for the guy I worked with that was working 24/7. I feel bad for his kids, I really do. I know jobs aren't always 9-5 and that is fine, but there is a limit. This first and foremost disgusted me. I was on Project Status calls where they discussed forcing people to work weekends, one women said she had plans to visit her parents. They had no emotion, and were trying to make arrangements so that she could visit her parents and still work...come on. Just because we live in an age where we can work remote, it should not be abused.

Career Growth/Potential: I dont work with one person face to face. I've met my boss once, and talked to her maybe 3 times in 6 months. I can't figure out how I could possibly be recognized in this company.

Location: It was actually a good commute for me...

Co-worker Competence: Many people were smart in what they did, but just either overloaded or something that caused a complete lack of focus. Impossible to get people to respond to you...

Work Enviornment: NASTY!!! I walk 2 floors down to another level in the building to use the bathroom. The Cafe is nasty. The workstations are nasty. I had a stapler stolen from my desk. Then somebody went through my drawer and stole a brand new keyboard... Boxes, Papers, junk in piles everywhere. Really, it is an unpleasant working environment. Terrible lighting, PC monitors that are so old the screens are yellow and green. 99% of the people work over a phone and that is it. Meetings with other people who are all in the same building are done over the phone, I hate that...its not productive. You have no control, and you know people are doing other things. Bad setup, not clean.

I know there are so many negative reviews of ACS but honestly this is the best review I can provide. I was not happy, recognized that immediately and made an effort to find something better. The only good thing was that I was so not managed, and so not supervised that I literally would leave in the middle of the work day to go on Interviews. I spent hours of many work days looking for jobs, and taking phone interviews all from right in the office. I had no shame in doing so, and it worked out. Good luck if you choose to ACS, but please keep your options open for other opportunities.

I have been at ACS for almost four years. After I made permanent, I noticed that all the departments had clicks (the elite) No matter what they (my co-workers) did, they always received preferential treatment. Now our company has installed ABC (Activity Based Compensation)

The (Elite group) get special projects to do so they are guaranteed to make at least their salary or higher. They go out whenever they want on breaks. They make or change their lunch hours. They come in late 2- to 3 times a week and "FORGET" to clock in. (now really every week this is done and no one gets written up for this). How are they making their quotas, most of them are never by their desks, or if they are, they are texting friends, or on the phones.The Upper management has hand picked 5-6 people in our department that they are always in the loop on what is happening in our department or the rest of the company, while the rest of the department is in the dark.

In the weeks prior to and post the xerox merger being finalized, there were a large number of firings, even though the North Bend office is advertising to hire new people. In reality they were cycling in a new batch of people and removing longer term employees. I was one of the people recently fired, which when I asked why, I was told due to my I.R. stat, but when I filed for unemployment, ACS reported my firing as being for attendance issues, causing a denial of the claim. Personally I am glad to be done with the company, the constant stat juggling and the creation of impossible goals (i.e. current IR goal 89.6%, meaning that if you get more than 1 negative survey out of the 18 survey max, you will not meet goal), making it impossible to keep your pay steady. This is a company for the desperate, as I think the company makes more money charging the contract companies for training than for keeping trained employee's and performing the job well.

horrible company!!! horrible management

I have been in ACS for a few months, not enough to get to know very well the company nor the organization, however I have noticed that the high managment (finance controllers) are not well prepared to take the reins of the clients, their lack of knowledge about the techincal subjects regarding the accounting principles is a true shame to those who know them and still remain on the bottom of the organization doing the "hard work".

As well, the salary has been frozen for more than 2 years, they lie about it, they give bad excuses, they keep just avoiding talk about the issue of the bad wage they give, benefits are the worse all over the companies I worked, and HR people will just try to cheat on you and try to save some $$$ on you, oh and dont worry about gorwing opportunites...because the best chance you have to do a career is to get out of ACS:

About the balance for personal and work life, well, it doesn't exists, only bosses are allowed to do home office, take vacations all the time and move the close period to their best options, and in here things are totally different, don't even think about vacations because you might get into a fight, the Managers really doesn't respect us and don't treat us as equals even when we are very well prepared and able to do the job in short periods of times.

The only good thing about this place is the peers whom are very well experienced and agree totally about the lack of expertise of the top managers.

My final words are just to invite you to think about not joining ACS; there are better options, and if you are in try to get out ASAP, just as I am trying.

Activity Based Compensation (ABC) is an excuse to drop pay. ACS workers in Staten Island who work for the EZ Pass Call Center voted to join a Union (CWA). They are fighting back. Check out what they have been doing, go to www.notsofastezpass.org

I hated working here!

I worked for ACS for more than three and one-half years in data entry and looked for other employment the entire time. I am a mature worker so my options are limited. I realized at the very beginning that I was working for an inferior company. The paper I signed to accept the job stated "occasional" overtime. While in training, I noticed, they asked for two hours mandatory overtime daily from everyone. We also worked every other Saturday. At first for four hours, then until the work was done (could be 12-14 hrs) and finally for eight hours. After a year, I had to get a doctor's note because all the overtime was causing injury to my arm and hand. I greatly surpassed the requirements to get the job, but was always told I was slow. I was not slow, my quality was excellent and I was dependable. Unless you can "brown nose" really well, bow to their every need and never question anything, they will treat you terribly. We had one team member that had BN'ing down to such a science that he became the "Golden Employee." We had two teams in our department and the two team leaders were mother and daughter. I thought this was unethical, but was told as long as one didn't manage the other and one didn't have control over the other's wage, it was okay. The mother clearly managed or tried to manage the daughter and who knows about the wage thing. Both were the snottiest people I had ever met. The mother was lazy and totally incompetent. I never understood how she even got the job. Team members were not allowed to talk to each other at all, but she sat in the office of one of her friends and talked for hours. If we had a question, the answer would be different from anyone asked. We had eight people over us and each one had a different answer to any question. The team members were paid nothing (lowest piece rates possible) and the management and especially IT were paid way too much. That is probably why management would do anything to keep their job. I have never worked with such a concentration of hypocrites and liars.

The benefits for the first year were the absolute worst. I finally went to HR and asked her to help me get the money the insurance owed me. We found out the "affordable insurance" were a few people in a backroom somewhere that were doing insurance just for ACS and could care less about doing their job. The lowly employees get the really bad insurance the first year and better the second year. Only management has access to the best benefits and pay.

The turnover was shocking. Some would disappear by noon their first day. Others would give their two weeks notice and never return. When employees decided to leave, they wouldn't even come back for personal items (some expensive). They wanted nothing more to do with ACS, ever. One new employee came into the lunchroom and asked me, "How much deceit do they need to use to get people to work for them?" That is the only way they can get people to work for them. She left her desk covered with pictures and personal items and to my knowledge, never returned for them. They had so many complaints to HR, that they outsourced HR to Mexico. Really fun trying to get this new HR to understand what you need regarding benefits or anything else let alone problems with the work environment.

If they ever make a system/program change, the problems can go on for months. The server crashing, the error messages, the backlog, the overtime, the problems, problems, problems are just too much to take. It happened to me twice and I didn't survive the second one. If it did not go the way they planned, we were blamed. We were pulled into the manager's office and torn to pieces before he even knew all the facts. It was so terrible, one woman had a panic attack and my eyes were almost swollen shut from crying. To me, it was abuse plain and simple. What happened to me is just beyond imagination for someone who actually has a work ethic and tried to do the best job possible under the circumstances. Horrible treatment and disrespect are an understatement. Management wil lie and lie with ease because they have done it so many times before. They will even lie with ease after being sworn in by a UI Appeal Judge. My manager's statement was a lie from beginning to end and he did it with ease and a smile. Make sure you have a good lawyer if you have to go against ACS at all for anything. They have a whole team of shyster lawyers working for them. ACS is the most ruthless company and is barely operating above the law or maybe not. Ninety-eight percent of management are emotionless, untrustworthy, unethical, cruel, liars, etc. ACS brags about being a Fortune 500 company. They should not brag about anything. ACS is a sweat shop. They should be investigated and shut down. My time with ACS was traumatic. Not what I had imagined for the end of my working years.

As a former ACS employee in several roles, my overall assessment of the company and its future is certainly negative. That being said, there are some positives that should be noted as well.

Pay - Slightly below average for the market. As a low cost outsourcer, this is to be expected.

Respect - Based purely on my experience, I felt I was well respected for the most part. I was witness to several instances of lack of respect from all levels of employment.

Benefits - An excellent benefits package, although this varies from one business unit to another and from state to state. The offerings tend to be much better than the national average in most categories.

Job Security - The plan to offshore their workers continues to eliminate US based jobs. As a victim of two RIFs, I would argue that there is no worse job security in the outsourcing industry.

Work/Life Balance - While this is also variable from one business unit to another, for the most part the culture demands the working of long hours and unusual schedules to be successful. Although I'm sure there are exceptions, this is no place for anyone looking to have any sort of focus on family to apply for a job.

Career Potential/Growth - Outside of the executive leadership team, there is very little longevity for anyone. I don't know a single person at ACS who has been there for more than 10 years, and only one who has been there more than 5. That being said, the incredibly high turnover means the opportunity to move into roles quickly - just make sure to jump ship before you go down!

Location - The locations for the most part are good and safe. I've heard a couple of horror stories, but all in all was impressed by the physical plants and their locations.

Co-worker Competence - Another area that varies from place to place. The high turnover rate discussed above means that in many situations co-workers are vastly undertrained and underqualified for the positions they have been quickly promoted into. A good month or two could be enough to catch the eye of a decision maker who wants to promote you, even if you aren't remotely qualified to do your job. Again - if this is you, make sure to jump ship before you go down!

Work Environment - One word - hostile. When an environment is ruled by fear, hostility reigns supreme. It's too bad - there are some terrific managers and employees who are trapped in work environments where there good traits are slowly suffocated, as the use of them would end in their removal or termination. I would never endorse a work environment where integrity and honesty were viewed as weaknesses.

Overall, I would warn people away from ACS. The successful people at ACS are ruthless, and can get over the ethical concerns a normal person would have about the way business is conducted there. I left ACS and went to a job making half of what I had made there, and was twice as happy. Let that speak for how bad the work environment was.

They just lost The Hospital of Central Connecticut due to lack of performance. My co-workers (all pre ACS) are great people and hard working..probably the smartest people i've had an opportunity to work with. I was with them for 10 good years until ACS came along and then came the Offshoring..and let me tell you the daily "i wonder if i'm going to get fired" and the constant pay decreases started kicking in. The funny thing is when you offshore or start laying off people..usually the first ones to go are the most qualified people and that has started to happen. There should be a built in clause with government contracts (which ACS does a lot of work for) that they cannot offshore to another country. ACS has an 80/20 rule where they want to offshore 80 percent of the workers..unbelievable the hypocrites that run this company...well looks like xerox has taken over now and i hear that things are going to go from bad to worse..if your a stock holder for the time being your looking good..if your an employee then i suggest getting out of dodge now!!