teller

center manager

customer service representative

relationship banker

wealth management advisor

Berkshire Bank

I worked for Berkshire Bank for 6+ years and loved it up until the last year of my employment. I started out as a teller and worked my way up. The benefits were good, the work hours were great, and we even got performance bonuses when we hit our sales goals as a team. I loved my team and the company culture of America's Most Exciting Bank. Berkshire Bank still has great customer products.
 I made so many great friends and learned a lot from my time there.
Unfortunately, the recent management upheaval in 2019 and 2020 (losing 2 presidents in 2 years) caused a lot of problems internally. In 2020 Politics became the center of employee culture (pushed on us by senior management) and I found it very dividing, distracting and inappropriate. I think senior management, unintentionally, put employee morale by the wayside in the midst of all the turmoil of the pandemic, social, and political unrest. 
Allowing employees to work from home was nice, but its was a tough transition with a lot of technology issues and lack of IT help.
For the last few years I worked in a technical back office position that was very understaffed and underpaid for requiring a degree. No bonuses or raises were given no matter how hard we worked, no overtime was allowed even though the amount of work was often more than 40 hours worth. We were given a lot of vacation time but seldom allowed to use it. 
I understand the bank has been through a lot in recent years but when two departing presidents each receive 8 million dollar severance it made me second guess my worth to the company. I know others felt the same way, good employees are leaving daily and its so sad to see. I really hope new management can show more appreciation for current help and attract new talent. Suggestions for improvement; pay at least the industry average, give regular raises, hire more help so people can use vacation time, and stop pushing a political agenda. Berkshire Bank really is a great company overall just going through a rough patch. 

I was super excited about a new place of employment. Unfortunately when I got to Berkshire bank, it was extremely hard for me to work there. I'm an extremely easy person to get along with, but the people that worked in the branch I was in made it IMPOSSIBLE. Everyone was drama and made everyone that was new, uncomfortable. 

When I started, I just found out I was pregnant and I was very proactive about letting people know and figuring out what I needed to do. I contacted Human Resources to find out everything that I needed and what to expect. They were not clear on it at ALL. I was prepared to not get paid for 3 weeks, I completely understood that I would not be paid. But what they decided NOT to tell me was that they were going to backtrack my insurance payments for my daughter when I started after my maturity leave and took it out of my first paycheck back, leaving me with $6 to my name for 2 weeks. Not sure who can support themselves on $6 and I certainly don't know anyone who can support an 8 week old baby on $6. I knew at that point it was time to look for something new. 

 Within the first month I was there, the manager switched branches. Only ONE internal manager applied for the position because the office because of such a bad rep. I'd never recommend working for Berkshire bank to anyone. The environment just isn't what a bank environment should be. The other employees would talk about going out to the bar and how drunk they were all weekend while other employees had customers and they would even talk about it to their customers. Completely unprofessional.  Some customers would even question a relationship between two of the employees. They weren't dating but the way they acted, you'd think otherwise. If customers notice that, that's an issue. 

The only two good things that I can say about the bank:

1. I loved that they worked with me with all of my appointments for my pregnancy. 

2. They encouraged you to volunteer for community/local activities and it seemed to really help out. From local street fairs to the helping out the local schools to the minor league baseball games.

This review is solely about the call center and not about Berkshire Bank as a whole. Management at the call center is a complete joke. They sit in there offices all day doing nothing while taking 5-10 minutes to reply to an instant message for assistance on your call. Not to mention, there is a whole list of people you may IM, but you will typically be left hanging while your customer is on hold. You get scored on random calls that they pick and conveniently they somehow always choose ones you had trouble with. You also get scored on  hold times, times a call has came through and you didn't answer it, you also get scored on the time you get off the phone and take and go to the restroom. (not joking).You get less than 30 second after each call and they expect you to be okay with a 30 minute break for shifts sometimes being 9 to 10 hours. They tell you it's a rotating schedule but expect to have a very sporadic schedule. They are not flexible with scheduling.  Don't expect to be social with co-workers because talking is not allowed at all. During my time there, all of my coworkers (who all but 2 still work there) dreaded coming into their shift. The work environment is toxic. you will not be recognized for your hard work but will be called out for anything you do wrong.  Turnover is insane. They were desperately hiring the whole length of my employment.

Training at Call center is a joke, there is none. They want to constantly push and sell products that the customers are not calling about, to meet a sales incentive. Managers sit in the office and take forever to answer a question you have. they like to keep you in the dark so you have no choice but to ask them, to the point where your customer is frustrated and hangs up. They grade you on calls and like mentioned before, always the ones you have had issues on. they do take points off when you have to get off the phone to use the restroom. They grade you on how many fee refund request you enter. You are graded on telling the customer no. only one 30 min lunch even for shifts longer than 8 hrs. Good luck getting to know the people you work with, they dont want you talking to each other. Bad turnover I've seen like 20 people in the department quit  even managers, in the short time I've been here.It's not a rotating schedule, its whatever works for them. They make it your responsibility to train other new employees, and pay you nothing for it, because it magically appeared in the job description for the position. they still grade calls you take while you are training... just seems like they set you up to fail very discourging work environment, its like nothing you do is right.

I was terminated from my position and although I am no longer sour about that, I am sour about the fact I was told not to resign, when I knew I was about to loose my job. I wanted to resign, my branch manager advised me to not and apply for Unemployment, which for me wasnt a huge deal, I dont need it, but thought well it will be nice to have some extra cash while I look for a job if worse comes to worse. Either way I was told to hold off and if I got terminated ask to resign at that time and have my Resignation letter ready. When the time came and I was terminated I asked my regional manager ro resign. He said it was too late for that. I recently found out that my unemployment was declined. Not a huge deal at all but still, I feel like Berkshire scewed me over. I will never recommend working there. Everyone that works there complains about it. The only ones that dont are all the MEN in high positions. There is 1 woman and 20 men. Also they find sneaky ways to charge you more money and dont take care of their current customers. Only intrest is more money and new customers. 
Managers dont contribute,  My eye was twitching for weeks because of the stress, and when I asked for help I rarely got it. All in all soooo glad I no longer work there. I am happier and have great work/life balance now.

I’ve worked at two branches and the call center and have watched them walk all over their employees with no remorse. Firing entire branches for assumptions. I watched my original manger work extremely hard and get no recognition and almost quit. Then I transferred to a branch next to a casino for a part time position, we had no manager or assistant manager at the branch, just three 24/25 year olds running the bank. Two full time, one part time. We couldn’t take lunches if 3 people weren’t on duty and rarely had that. The cash machines, locks on drawers, and vaults were broken more often than not, there was no teller line for protection, no second drawer to store any excess money. When I complained about our safety, they suggested I apply for another position. Then I worked for the call center, management was rude and unhelpful, you could never reach anyone in the loan department. Calls are back to back nonstop and you can’t take 15 minute breaks. No one is helpful when you need information. Many employees have tried to fight for weekly pay to no avail.

I think all organizations that get too large end up with this problem at some point or another. There are too many layers of management at this company which makes it very hard to solve problems. Middle to upper managers like to be isolated from issues on the ground floor and don't take feedback from employees well. This leads to a generally dreadful existence for lower level employees at the company. In the typical department in the bank there are two assistant vice presidents, a vice president, a senior vice president, and an executive senior vice president. Below the AVP's there can be a department manager, a Team Lead or branch supervisor, etc.

Communication across departments is also effectively dead with most departments wanting to be and mostly are siloed to their day to day functions. Literally if an issue bridges departments it becomes a management kerfuffle.

If you can't handle idiotic bureaucracy this is not the place for you. 

•	Executes an extensive variety of customer transactions in accordance with bank policy and procedures
•	Maintain a working knowledge of all banking regulations
•	Handle over $20,000 on a daily basis in an organized, timely, and accurate fashion
•	Assist in daily office work to ensure proper balancing of the branch and timely delivery of work to appropriate departments 
•	Assist with branch capture of teller work and cash letter reports as needed
•	Provide back up and support to Teller Supervisor tasks as needed
•	Handle routine customer issues while executing excellent customer service principles. 
•	Identify appropriate areas where more complex issues and/or problems exists and propose solutions
•	Demonstrate excellent customer service skills to promote a positive image for the bank through face to face communication and telephone etiquette
•	Cross-sell and refer non-traditional bank products to meet established goals (e.g. insurances & investments) 
•	Perform a wide variety of customer service operations and general clerical duties

Pros:
The work–life balance at Berkshire Bank was really solid. I never felt like I had to choose between work and family, which isn’t something you can say everywhere in banking. Mike Daly, the CEO, set a strong vision and really seemed to care about both employees and the communities we served. At the top level, the direction felt clear and steady.

Cons:
The challenge came more in the middle managers. Expectations weren’t always clear, and communication could get lost between departments or managers. Sometimes you’d hear one thing from leadership and then a completely different spin from your direct manager, which made it tough to know what the real priorities were.

Overall:
Berkshire is a good place to work if you value balance and want to be part of an organization with strong leadership at the top. Just be prepared for some bumps in communication and mixed signals from middle management.

 It's a great company to work for. The culture here is positive and supportive, making it a wonderful environment to grow both personally and professionally. The team is fantastic—everyone is collaborative and truly great to work with, which fosters a sense of community.

One of the standout features is the active resource groups that promote engagement among employees from different markets. These groups provide valuable opportunities for networking and professional development, allowing us to learn from each other and share diverse perspectives. Additionally, the company strongly emphasizes volunteerism, encouraging employees to get involved in community service. This allows us to give back and provides a platform to showcase our skills outside of our regular job functions. Overall, it is an exceptional workplace, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to join a dynamic and inclusive team.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teller 31 salaries reported	$22.80 per hour
Center manager 155 salaries reported	$25.75 per hour
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$21.77 per hour
Relationship banker 1 salary reported	$25.43 per hour
Wealth management advisor 12 salaries reported	$125,057 per year

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