Working at Progressive Insurance — Reviews by Employees

They treated me unfairly and wouldn't let me have my vacation time after firing me.

Coming off a transitional year form 1.0 to 2.0, it has been a bumpy road. Management hasn't been able to explain why workload assignment is inconsistent except that it was better than before. Layoffs in May made people so nervous and they used this fear to work us to the bone without proper recognition for this as other job options were nill. Loss of 7+ employees in a 20 employee group with no option of replacements and management advises us to buck up. At least we have jobs, they say.

Jobs, that compared to other company, pay peanuts. Any other company hires at $3-$4k STARTING salary than a midpoint salaried employee here. Company is profitable but raises are not promised. And trust me, for those with recent PE's, they are giving raises. Not based on numbers more like who the management likes. If you get no raise, you get the company line as to why no raise which makes one think there isn't money for raises. Raises in this office range from nothing to 6% or more - again, not numbers based as number variance is minimal between those with 6% raise and those with no raise .

Now we are hiring at these area offices and I would not advise my closest enemy to work here. The grass is greener everywhere else than here.

Pay is poor and the salary review process is horrible. I just received an increase but am still not being paid any where near what a person with my responsibilities should be paid. The recent Performance Evaluation period caused such enormous stress in the office the tension was unbelievable. Everyone and I mean everyone was stressed out. Managers must get some sort of pay increase for giving out mindless, useless, negative feedback. Hard working totally competent people are criticized or ridiculed for petty ridiculous things. This gives them justification for not giving a raise.
There is no respect, totally incompetent people are promoted to levels far beyond their competence leaving the hard working competent people to waste valuable time cleaning up their co-workers mistakes.
Job security is poor unless you are an incompetent suck up.
Work life balance - set your boundaries.
Career potential growth. They talk a good game here but the reality is few opportiunities are available and often incompetent outsiders are hired over qualified insiders.
Location doesn't matter the company is horrible in every location.
Co-worker competence - some are good but beware the incompetent ones seem to rise to the top.
Work environment - horrible, oppressive, physical conditions are horrendous the buildings are way to cold and the lighting is awful. It is horrible to watch co-workers wearing coats at their desks. Yet they say the temperature is just fine. You only have to look around to see people are bringing blankets to work and some are even seen wearing gloves at their desks. Way to take care of your employees Progressive.
Get out as fast as you can and don't look back.
If you have any other options do not work here.

It's been years since I departed and I am doing a little rubber-necking now to remind myself how bad it was. And lo and behold the first Vent I find is someone out of East TN who could have been one of my supervisors. Scanning a few more reviews tells me it's gone from bad to worse or at least it hasn't changed one bit for the better.
JV may delete my vent but doesn't it say something that I've come back to the site and all of the reviews resonate in such a vivid and haunting fashion.
I am glad I left when I did. I can't imagine being stuck in that company in this current job market having to support a family. Oh the misery in that. I felt trapped enough as it was because there are so few non-blue collar jobs in a place like East Tennessee. I don't live there anymore. It took leaving the state to leave the company and find a better job.
In retrospect it was a good decision. I just wish I had made it sooner.
My pay now is easily 2x what I had been making and certainly more than I'd be making if I was still a Claims Rep or even a Shift Leader.
Respect is no question far and away better. Benefits too. My 401(k) vests immediately and even though my Health Insurance went up this year it is still affordable. I remember Kristen asking if all jobs made you feel as miserable as Progressive. She had no means of comparison having come straight out of college. I assured her that Progressive was the exception and not the rule to work-life. She left before I did and has found what I knew before I started working for this lousy company. I can't believe Renwick is still CEO after nose-diving this dog into a ditch.

Worst place I ever worked. So glad i'm out. I may recommend this job to my worst enemy.

I left Progressive about 2 weeks ago after 7 1/2 years. I worked my way up the ladder to supervisor.
Here's my take now that I've had some time to reflect on those years:

Pay: When I hired on, I was thrilled by the pay. I don't know of many places that will pay that kind of money to people with little to no insurance knowledge. After that, however, the pay seemed to dwindle year to year as the ASR process became a pittance and the cost of the benefits kept increasing faster than the pay could keep up. The only time I got any real bump was when I was promoted and when they reviewed all the salary ranges a couple of years ago. Since they eliminated the PFP program, good luck getting any type of pay increase if you are a rep. All I can tell you is negotiate as much salary as you can on the front end because that's about the best you can do.

Respect: I was lucky to have 2 FANTASTIC branch managers in my career. Unfortunately, that's where it stops. Get above the branch level and the management is shaky at best. You have state managers running around "working from home", "working from Lowes", or "working from the karaoke bar". Part of the reason Progressive has lost its way is due to the fact these managers at a state level have completely lost touch with what is going on at the branch level. And don't get me started on the Cheerleader, Tricia. She was put in place solely for her HR experience as the claims organization continues to get chopped, consolidated, and centralized.

Benefits: Absolutely terrible. My child had health problems and ended up in the hospital twice last year. Guess what? I am still "sharing in the cost" of those benefits. I was terrifed to think that I was going into 2010 still running a debt for the out of pocket I had from 2009. All told, I was out about $8500. I liked the Cigna plan much better, but that was eliminated. Pretty crappy way to treat employees, especially when you consider Progressive is self insured and only uses Aetna to administer the claims. Shame on you, Progressive for the health care insurance you provide.

Job Security: None. I survived 2 different restructuring/RIF's. I was thankful to still have a job, but there's only so much you can do when you are expected to complete ride-alongs with reps and you are managing people in 4 different offices spread throughout the eastern part of the state. The bonus was trying to performance manage employees remotely and trying to telephone manage a team with very little face to face interaction.

Work/Life Balance: I used to work nights, weekends, volunteer for holidays, all that good stuff. I used to think it would be my ticket to increased responsibility or a promotion. Folks, it's not going to happen. When you see the Progressive Propaganda machine pumping out notes to make sure everyone is clear about the difference between "consolidation" and "centralization", you better read between the lines and realize if you are an inside rep your days are numbered.

Career Potential: None. Use this place for the experience and then use it to get a job with another insurance company. Other insurance companies salivate over Progressive reps because they know they are high performers with buttloads of training, that are willing to work for next to nothing. Know your value, know what you bring to the table, and use it to your advantage.

Location: I couldn't complain here. I was in a city I loved in a safe building. When the office space was shrunk down, it did make things a bit cramped. That's ok. After they run off more people there will be plenty of room to spread out and scavenge the desk of those that leave. That was pretty funny when the company suggested you check the desks of the road kill to pilfer for office supplies rather than order more. Just don't dig too deep, you might find a hidden claim, medical bill, or attorney rep letter that hasn't been responded to in 6 months.

Co-worker Competence: The very best. In fact, I've been keeping my eyes open for some of this talent to get just disgruntled enough that I might be able to pick some of them off and bring them to my company and my office.

Work Environment: Dreadful. I should have changed my job title from supervisor to counselor because most of my days were filled with consoling reps that were on the verge of meltdowns or talking them off the ledge after they just got their 10th claim and it's not even lunch. Don't let them cry for too long, though. There's no one in available and that phone queue is filling up quickly. Wouldn't want the office to end up on the hotlist, would we?

In summation, I have to thank Progressive for those years. They taught me so much about how to manage in a high pressure, high stress, fast paced environment that the interviews with my new company were almost laughable because I had so many examples to use for their interview questions.

Also, don't buy the hype about market pay and salary reviews based on the industry as a whole. I got a job with a much smaller company and negotiated a signing bonus larger than the manager gainshare, a salary increase that has me contemplating allowing my wife to stay home, fewer hours (8 to 4:30 anyone?), better insurance (yay for the copay!), and a work environment that has me pinching myself and wondering why in the heck did I stick around with Progressive for so long. Don't give up hope, there are opportunities out there. Network like crazy, keep in touch with your coworkers that get canned, and have faith that you are worth more than you are getting now.

I wish all of you the best, but I'm afraid it's not going to get any better there. Dust off the resume and don't get blindsided like those folks did last May. Make sure when you leave it is on your own terms, not theirs. You can bet your butt the only interest they have is the bottom line. Not what you would expect from an insurance company, is it?

Company as a whole is not bad. It is the managers. Higher ups need to realize that the problems are with the lower managers reporting to them. How about cleaning up that mess. Take that super plogger bitch out with the trash too. Im waiting patiently for the ball to drop with my lawyer, EVIDIENCE, and the truth. Can you say MEDIA FRENZY?

This company is Fubar.

Pay: Simply said, I have been offered more to leave 3 times, never offered less. I stayed for empty promisses of promotions, 401k, and vacation time. Pay is not terrible, but Progressive loves to say we are the best employees in our field(other companies see us this way as well), but Progressive only likes to pay 85%-100% of what you would make at another company. The sad thing is you have to do 50% more work at Progressive for less than other companies pay. Gain share is a joke, we were running a 2.0 so they changed the formula. The new formula we have never been above a 1.0. I am sure if we get up there, they will change the rules halfway through the year or some other bs.

Respect: None, upper management has basically taken a giant crap on all of us. They set impossible goals that just set us up to fail, or go crazy trying to met. Its not fair when no one in your state with your job can "meet expectations" no matter how many extra hours they put in.

Benefits: our new health care, toted as "better healthcare" in the ppt by HR is actually a pay decrease across the board. Roger Farah is on our Board and is also on Aetna Board of directors, and figure out how this does not violate the Progressive Way in dealing with vendors. This is an unethical conflict of interest and the reason we all have crappy health care now.

Job Security: Its pretty safe as long as you do not go crazy trying to do this job or have a heart attack from the work overload.

work/ life balance: job objectives are written so that we are not allowed to take etb if we want to meet expectations. If you take etb it counts as a negative in your performance. Its not written that way but it is written that every day you do not do your job is a negative, and you have to work the extra days to make it up. The stressfree ETB posters in the office are pretty nice though.

Career Potential: alot of empty promisses from Management. I have seen people get promoted by having sex with the boss. If you see this, do not report it to HR unless you want to end your career. I know others who made the mistake of believing there is an "open door".

Co-Workers - There are many good people working here, who are treated like complete garbage until the either quit, or are commited to the insane asylum.

Work Environment: its pretty Hostile. This company is a tinder box for a major class action lawsuit.

If you fit in, you're set. Same applies to most work places but the degree to which you are expected to be molded (or moldy) is as high as I've seen in 32 years of post graduate work experience. The oppressive culture and inability to actually be yourself in this atmosphere are challenging aspects of being successful in this organization. Diversity is heralded as the cornerstone of Prog's treatment and acceptance of all employees yet it is a veiled attempt at advertising innovation and development of their workforce. The truth is simple.....assimilate or be be black listed and live in fear of incompetence from 'senior' management as far as your 'development' and career aspirations are concerned. This goes as far as who you have lunch with, who you play golf with, who you drink beer with ( and in many cases who you sleep with). It's naive not to believe that any work culture demands (and rightfully so) all employees follow both behavioral and career growth/contribution expectations but the reality of the situation dictates that you emulate and contrive behavior that matches that of your 'superiors'.

The sad fact is that many of the folks in management here (some of whom are actually quite good, they have not yet been given an action plan for amendment of their ill begotten ways, they will, regardless of how good they are) have no other place that would accept the degree of bipolar and inconsistent actions, statements, directions and pure egocentric/self promoting traits. What a shame. Front line managers are forced to parrot their manager's blather. Individualism, the ability to make mistakes and grow from them are negated due to fear ('cause the money isn't bad in this terrible economy in a town with few options). I have seen many people ruined emotionally and intellectually by trying to meet moving target expectations and the flavor of the day behavioral modification techniques...aka fear, mind games, drama and the need to not stand out due to opinion, position, style of work or challenging standard conventions. Again, what a shame.

I greatly respect my direct manager as a person...he has to put his thoughts and perspectives aside in order to clone the behavior of his direct manager who is an oppressive psychopath. He has a family, bills, health insurance needs, etc. to be filled and does what he has to in order to retain his job and keep those above him content. Fear is not a motivator. Fear is alive and well here. I feel sorry for these people and actually envy those that can close their eyes and hearts to what I consider abuse.

Enough ranting….my own hypocrisy requires me to be assimilated. I too have bills, family and needs that out weigh the pain in my stomach as I drive to work every day, smiling and back slapping my happy way to the coffee machine. One more time….what a shame. So much talent oppressed by so many egos and misconceptions. We miss the days when you could be yourself, make mistakes, correct them and learn and actually enjoy what you do for a living. I’m just as bad as the rest of them I guess. What a shame.

Not a bad place to work. I've done worse for less.