Pros
The benefits are pretty good. You receive Paid Time Off which is above average on the amount of days you are allowed upon being hired. Health Care was a lot better before the switch from the 100% option to the best option being 80% Coverage. Pension is nice and the company matches up to 5% of any investment. It only takes 4 years to be vested. Co-workers are nice (for the most part). Work-life balance is good if you have children or an emergency comes up. 401k options are nice.
Cons
Since the implementation of the new claims system (Next Gen), the job of an adjuster has been extremely difficult. This system was implemented in 2008 and there have been several issues with the entire system going down, including the ability to even report a claim. Constant IT issues and glitches in the system force the adjuster to search for "work-arounds" just to complete simple tasks like sending correspondence or adding a participant to a claim. In the regional office I am leaving, the upper management has completed many decisions that one would say to be "less than ethical". With a new manager without claims experience taking over the office, he has his hands full. The staffing issues have made the employees that stuck around through the closing of the office we had in Charleston, SC unbearable. The average bodily injury adjuster receives 5-6 claims per day, while the average liability adjuster receives between 9-11 per day (This includes weekends!!!). Another note about weekends is that this office has forced salary employees to come in for Saturday or Sunday duty at least once a month in addition to a regular work week. The salary employees average 48hrs per week, not including any weekend work (voluntary or not). The company recently (2009) LOWERED it's starting salary for adjusters to below the 50th percentile, which completely blows my mind, considering the company wasn't that far from being at the 50th percentile to begin with. When I started a few years ago, the office was a completely different place to work. Morale was higher and one had the sense that there was opportunity to advance a career and enjoy life. Within the past 2 years things have changed and you would be hard to find a claims office within the US as disgruntled as your local Allstate claims office.
