Avaya culture has changed dramatically over the last decade. A company that once went out of its way to reward loyalty and recognize their employees, now moves forward with an attitude of "It is a privilege to work for us, if you don't like what we are doing, you are free to leave." They no longer care to have conversations about what is wrong with the infrastructure or how it can be streamlined. Instead it has become a dictatorship where they continue to "take from" rather than "give to" their employees. Just as Network World was announcing that Kevin Kennedy received a fivefold pay increase, Avaya announced (without warning) that they were taking away our accrued vacation model and going to a Discretionary Time Off (DTO) model. With the new model you have to negotiate with your manager to get time off and you do NOT accumulate vacation. If they feel that the "Needs of the Business" will allow for some time off, they may grant it to you if they deem you so worthy. (but one should not expect the same amount of time off that was previously earned through tenure.) So those that have been loyal for many years, essentially lose the additional time off that they earned through hard work. They also continue to shave away at the benefits and reduce the rewards. Then they spin the announcements in an attempt to make the changes appear attractive and appropriate. If you take the time to review their strategy and the changes they have made, it is very apparent that they are slowly working their employees towards a perfect slavery model where only the masters benefit. Avaya has had many internal problems for many years and they remain unresolved. If Avaya customers had any idea just how unstable and unreliable the tools are the we use to support them, they would find it hard to sleep at night. This was once a great place to work and I was proud to be Avayan. Unfortunately those days are gone and I no longer hold the pride I once enjoyed.
