engineer

painter

project manager

manager

intern

Ameren

For not enough pay and far too much politics, religion, and bureaucracy, it's a paycheck with benefits. 

The manager I reported to had never managed a project. That's right. Ameren has placed supervisory managers in the PMO that have never in their life managed an IT project! So be prepared to explain Project Management Institute terms and details to your leadership along with how waterfall and agile projects should work and do work at every other company outside of Ameren. Failed to dot an i or cross a t? Prepare to be dinged for that because while your manager doesn't know the first thing about what he's responsible for, he's much more superior and more important than you. After all he's a manager! A good Christian too! Have questions about how a process works? Sorry. The guy that wrote that was a contractor that was terminated a while back because he brought his laptop to a meeting and did some work while the meeting wasn't focused on his work area. But we'll pray for him that he makes better decisions at his next opportunity. Need some time to discuss something with your manager? Make sure you're one of his pets. Otherwise sorry. His time is reserved for kissing up to his leadership and to deal with his personal issues. Yes it's that ridiculous.

The inappropriate manager needs to be removed. Period. All of the projects reporting to him should be audited, especially the financials. Move the people that have never managed an IT or Digital project out of the leadership team of the PMO. The people that manage IT portfolios of projects and financials need to have years of experience in managing projects in Information Technology before they are put into that role otherwise you end up with the disastrous state this group is currently in. I have many years of experience across multiple business sectors. Ameren is the only company I've ever worked for that has people with no IT project experience in management roles of the PMO where employees are having to explain and teach project management fundamentals to their leadership.

The culture that's been defined at the Digital executive level has not made it's way to this front line manager and needs to ASAP. This department is already losing people in this group left and right. It's going to continue for as long as incompetence is in a management position in the PMO. 

Good luck to the new director. She's definitely got her work cut out for her. 

The departments I worked with outside of the Digital PMO seemed to have it together. The employees seemed genuinely happy and the departments had minimal politics in them. I wish I could have reported to them instead of this corrupt manager.


I’ve worked with Ameren for years now, and I feel compelled to share my experience, especially in light of another rate increase company. While this corporation prides itself on maximizing shareholder value, it has consistently shown little regard for its most important asset—its employees.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world was facing uncertainty and hardship, the company’s leadership decided to cut employee bonuses while continuing to reward shareholders handsomely. It was a stark reminder of where the company’s priorities lie. Despite the tough times, SUPERVISORS showed resilience, working through increased pressures and adapting to a rapidly changing environment. However, instead of feeling supported or appreciated, many of us were left feeling expendable and undervalued. Directors and Superintendents preaching from the safety of their homes while collecting their bonuses.

The treatment of employees is nothing short of appalling.  Senior management is disengaged and often dismissive of employee concerns. Communication is poor, and there’s a lack of recognition for hard work. Any attempts to suggest improvements or raise concerns are met with indifference at best, and sometimes outright hostility. The focus seems to be on maintaining profits and pleasing shareholders at any cost, even if it means sacrificing employee morale and well-being.  Pizza party,  you could only be so lucky. I pay for meals for my direct reports out of my on pocket.

It’s disheartening to see the company thrive financially while employees struggle. The disconnect between the corporate leadership and the people who actually do the work is glaring. The “employee-first” promises made in company mission statements are empty rhetoric, as the treatment of staff suggests that employees are little more than a means to an end for the company’s bottom line.

If you're an investor, you might appreciate the company’s ability to deliver profits, but if you're an employee, be prepared for a toxic work environment where your contributions are undervalued, and your well-being is an afterthought. Until the company makes significant changes to treat its employees with the respect and appreciation they deserve, I cannot recommend Ameren as a workplace.


Once a great department to be in.
Ample vacation time and great benefits.

The qualities of the leadership that's been added to the Digital team in the past 2 years has been that of gaslighting, narcissism, and emotionally and verbally abusive behaviors and actions.
 
There is a constant stream of what-to-say-and-how-to-say-it coming from leadership these days. There's also advice and guidance on haircut and color, clothing selection, and much more. None of this is documented in the employee manual.  

You can count on a manager taking you and several others aside after meetings to give you 'coaching' and 'feedback'. This typically entails a conversation along the lines of "I wouldn't have said it this way. I'd have said it another way instead." Was anyone offended? No. Were any laws or rules broken? No. It just didn't pattern what the manager would have done so therefore it was 'wrong'. It's gotten crazy.  Most of us are afraid to even send out an email anymore for fear of the tearing down meeting that comes afterwards. Life is far too short to deal with this daily emotional wrangling and nitpicking. There was a time when our managers were too busy working on important things to behave in this way. 

I use to love coming to work every day. Nowadays I dread it. You never know when you're going to be spoken down to, trivialized, or called onto the carpet for nothing. Due dates change and move forward on a whim. Conversations that no one but leadership can recall having happened.  A regular stream of put downs and insensitive comments.  It's become a very negative work environment for a lot of us. 

This is a form of harassment. It needs to stop.

PROS: The benefits are outstanding.  Health, dental, vision, 401k, pension, yearly bonus, disability, generous vacation & more than ample sick leave, life ins, flex work options.  Pay is ok, depending on how hard you work.  Good employees are run into the ground, which makes the pay minimal.  Lazy people are never fired and just get transferred all around the company, so they get paid pretty well for not doing anything.  It takes years to get fired so you have plenty of time to find a job before you will ever get let go.  

CONS: if you’re a good employee, be ready to do all the work of every lazy employee in your department and be run into the ground to the point where you’re making $1 an hour.  Your life will be miserable while the laziest person runs around doing nothing, disappears for hours or even days on end, and you do all their work.  Meanwhile, directors say nothing and do nothing. It’s incredibly toxic and most “leaders” have no idea how to lead.  They don’t know how to run meetings and half of them are awkward silence until someone else finally speaks up.  The company has also taken a turn over the past few years to be “all inclusive” and diverse, which has pushed it the other way and they are now not hiring the most qualified people for the job but just ensuring that they hire the most diverse person.  These comments are for company wide, but my department is no different either.  It’s all changed over the past couple years and i would not recommend if it was a family or close friend asking.  

Don't go to work in the Ameren Digital PMO. 

So much manual work. Lots of checklists to follow and paperwork to do. Nothing is automated. The micromanagement of weekly progress reports, weekly financial reports, and weekly reviews and scrubs of information is crazy. It's to the point that a project manager's job is no longer about managing the project but about keeping up with the paperwork. Instead of automating any of it they chose to hire more managers. Most of them are from the outside of Ameren and all with little or no IT project management experience. They are there to drive and micromanage the teams, so you spend your days checking boxes, filling out forms, asking a project team how many hours they've spent on a project in a given week and how many hours they estimate they'll work on it for the next week so you can report on it. Project funding requires the review and approval of too many people and too many meetings, so it takes months.

Agile as it's known in the industry is not here. The Agile implementation is a hacked up mess at Ameren and the company has been very slow to adopt Agile. They are decades behind other companies. 

It's all soul draining. The best people have already left or are looking, that's why you see so many job openings. It's not growth, it's turnover.

Don't take a job here. There are better companies with more competent management in place.

Ameren is a great place to work concerning the wage & benefits offered to employees.  The work family you create is awesome, Ameren is family oriented and family comes first.  There are opportunities for advancement various times throughout the year.  Vacation, sick time, paid holidays and FMLA are offered.   Recognition of major holidays are also celebrated.  Immediate supervisors are available for employees at any time and use every resource available to assist employees, very supportive.  The hardest part of the job is the mandatory OT plus you have to volunteer also.  The most stressful times for calls are March through October of each year.  Disconnecting of utilities begins April 1st of each year, then begins the college move in & move out of students.  Call volume is extremely high and a lot of stressed and tired coworkers,  Most enjoyable part of job was being able to actually  the customer with a one call resolution that met or exceeded their request..  It definitely requires the desire and drive to help people to your fullest ability.

Started with the best of intentions to stay for a lengthy time. It wasn't long before I learned that regardless of work quality and previous experience, you had no chance for advancement without at least a 2 yr degree. Any advancement was based on seniority + college education. In the interim, the entire premise of the job and possible advancement are based on a very narrow margin of quality control graded calls. When you entire future within the company is based on less than 1/10th of the actual work done, the scales are very much unfairly tipped against you. The support system they provide is a false front. The company presents a very caring compassionate forefront, everyone friendly and welcoming, but the main focus of the company is to prioritize their Diversity and Inclusion message at every turn, when you are supposed to be learning about a new policy, procedure, safety addendum, or software program. I left very deflated knowing that none of my opinions and issues would not be addressed if I spoke my concerns.

This is company itself is amazing, HOWEVER, The leadership (manager and a couple select supervisors) within the Decatur call center is horrible, bias, and even to some extent racist. They do very well with keeping up with major diversity inclusion topics to appease the most higher up's but within the center it's certainly not a standard they live by. They make sure everyone is notified when the higher up's in coming for a visit and everyone is lectured to make sure they look and behave their best those days. To my understanding, many reports have been filed to HR from many, many people and nothing is ever really done.  There are a couple supervisors even, that aren't happy because they feel constantly targeted or harassed. It's extremely micro-managed. I feel and have witnessed that retaliation is a very real thing here, but they have either figured out how to get a way with it, or have someone higher up in their corner saving them somehow. Or both. It's really sad because this really is an amazing company to work for otherwise. The CEO and President seem great, and are super personable. The company does pay quite nicely with great benefits.

In my opinion, I consider Ameren as a great company to start a career at and to complete your career. There are So many knowledgeable and talented people from every culture employed at Ameren.  Each person I came in contact with in my 30 plus years of employment was courteous, professional and just a solid person.  With few exceptions, the supervisors, managers, and upper management team along with contract workers are all on one accord, growing Ameren and making sure the company continues to be the best in the energy segment. 
I consider my co-workers to be an integral part of my family.  Much Love and Respect generated from them toward me which always was the most enjoyable part of my job.  
The hardest part of the job centered around long hours worked in the call center.  DURING STORM SEASON, OUTAGES ARE VERY COMMON AND LENGTHY IN DURATION.  To be "forced" to work beyond your shift is the worst and hardest part of your job.  Not knowing when and if you will be released to go home can be a torment to your mind and body.  Overall the best company ever.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay & only the pay was the best part. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being micromanaged was the most stressful part. There are statuses that needs to be met daily in order to continue working from home, if it was not met the punishment was to work in the office. And lastly, the wonderful customers were the #1 stressful part. Nothing compares to being cussed out at repeatedly. Great times! 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment=stressful. Culture=inclusive. There were quarterly diversity sessions for open communication on hardships. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Login at 8am, you will most definitely have technical difficulties with your computer system throughout the day. No matter if you are using your equipment or the company’s. There is no “slow time”. Even when it seems like there is, the day will end by taking 50+ calls. When you need help there is a help like that hopefully someone will answer. The days go by pretty slowly.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$102,333 per year
Painter 2 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Project manager 4 salaries reported	$97,250 per year
Manager 7 salaries reported	$149,429 per year
Intern 3 salaries reported	$28.33 per hour

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