actuary

assistant vice president

internal wholesaler

new business specialist

director

Pacific-Life

Like a lot of companies doing well, and flush with new tax cuts, they are using this windfall to find ways to reduce staff. Since COO take over of IT, they have started bringing in management types who share the "employees are a burden" mentality, and who conveniently work on the other side of the country so they don't have to deal with the staff they're dealing with. So now the company is in the beginning phase of outsourcing as many as possible (as most companies are bringing staff back in-house). 

I've never  seen morale nose dive in a company like it has here in the last year or two. It's become an increasingly hostile environment. Staff has turned on each other and management and vice versa. Its sad to see management who at least acted like they cared about an employees future now ask, "How many do you need?," when asked to lay off people.  Also sad to see are the obvious lies they throw at us ("We don't know whose job is affected," "This isn't about money"). 

Rumor is there are bonuses to be had  for management in reducing staff. This would explain why all of this is being put in place so fast, while most projects of this size usually take years. And the jobs are being turned over to a company with proven security violations and staff that hate where they work.

Engineers attitude toward the CIO (and the staff he's bringing in) is increasingly ugly, and he seems to feel the same way.  And in the year or so he's been here the only vision he's given is "outsourcing is the way to go." That's what he did at the last place he worked, and look how successful they are. He and his staff have no idea who the employees are or what they do.
Same with the new CISO they've brought in. His disdain for those who work for him is already legend in the hallways here.

Since all of this has been announced, most staff have  gone from, "I hope I don't lose my job," to "PLEASE lay me off"..  And you'll see after the smoke has cleared who is the better manager.... Those who are supportive of their staff will see little reduction, while the weaker ones will give up as many staff as they can to placate their new bosses. All of this will also give them a chance to get rid of the older staff members under the shroud of "agility."

The rest of the company seem to have little to no idea what's going on (why would they start asking users what they would like from IT now). I can only imagine what will happen to all of these users who expect white glove treatment now having to call out to people making low wages and who have no vested interest in how well the company does. Have fun..

A typical day at Pacific Life was to manage my assigned projects. Since the project environment is forever changing, this made the job both interesting and challenging. But I would adapt new methods for managing my projects, and my team consistently worked their project assignments and work well together.

Although for the most part the Managers I worked for at Pacific Life were great, except for the last Manager I had before I was laid off. My last Manager's style was extremely cruel, harsh, and stripped people of their confidence, dignity, and pride. Our Manager consistently reminded us that Pacific Life needed our Manager because "our Manager fixes things" which was not totally true. This style of management consistently was a road block to gaining a relationship with my Project Sponsor, having the freedom to manage my project based on my approach, and to apply lessons learned from my previous managers who were significantly more experienced in team building, managing of people, and allowing a Project Manager the freedom to develop their own style.

Although I would not judge Pacific Life based negatively based on one bad Manager, I would have to give Pacific Life a grade of B-. A good place to work, but the management core is very tightly knit which can make it hard for those that want to be creative, build relationships, and work together.

There's certain positions that require the SIE, Series 6 & 7 licensing. If you don't pass after two tries, you're terminated. That being said - make sure you're a good test taker or complete the exams before applying. 

To study for the exam, they provided a SIE textbook and gave me less than two weeks to absorb. Since PL is a well-established financial organization, I was anticipating a tutor or lecturer to help guide me through the mass of new information. Instead, I was given the 8 hour work days to study by myself. 

Although I didn't pass the first time, I was thrown into training for the call center (annuity specialist position) in spite of not knowing if I'd still have the job. The training could have been more organized but to my knowledge, my group acted as their guinea pigs for a new training program. 

After a month of uncertainty, I decided the corporate atmosphere and financial industry wasn't for me. But let me add a few more things about PL in Omaha, NE:

The company culture is astounding. All of the supervisors were very encouraging and open to any questions. There were team building exercises, food days, and a new lunch room. 
Each department had their own sort of "clique", if you will (still very welcoming). I often noticed the sales department to be talking; seemed to never be busy with anything except for themselves. 
The work pays well, great overall benefits, BUT if you aren't willing to fully indulge and sit in front of a computer all day, this isn't the right fit for you.

A typical day at work started with opening all programs including state websites. Reading all emails and listening to messages. Working on follow up with customers and representatives. Processing all licensing and appointments for representatives to sell Pacific Life products. Insure that all licenses and appointments for reps were up to date. Obtained outstanding  paperwork to complete appoints for reps. Made all necessary payments and adjustments to representatives commission payments. Consulted with Broker Dealers and representatives to gather information and answer questions. Trained fellow employees when required. Updated job aids and shared ideas for improving processes within the department. Work to meet deadlines that coincide with the market. I did feel after 10 years that I was ready to move on and start a new chapter. To be honest I did get a bit burned out and wanted to something new. The culture at Pacific life was terrific. You felt like you were family, especially after being there so long. I miss everyone of them.

The title pretty much says it all. The Annuity Product Specialist role is actually a Customer Service role. You're on the phone 8 hours a day, constantly criticized for how you could do better on the calls through reviews and not really given an opportunity to grow, with 0 flexibility or control over your own schedule. The division is currently under new management, which is terrible. Maybe things will go back to being normal, but the company's been going through non-stop restructuring for about 2 years now with no signs of slowing down.

As terrible as the job is (enough so that everyone is constantly talking about quitting), the people are some of the best people you'll ever meet. Literally everyone in the company is a genuinely good human being. 

If you're willing to be in a terrible position for a couple of years, the job looks fantastic on your resume, you gain a lot of fantastic experience, and you MIGHT have the possibility to move laterally. 

My anger is really directed towards customer service, and not the company as a whole. One of the best companies in the industry you could work for.

They offshore the easy work leaving you with only the hard & complicated procedural work to be done, removing any sense of balance through the day. They easily promote selected people without going through the interview process and treat the rest of the people as if they do not work there when applying for a new position. For some people, it is the best company ever but if you start in Operations, you will stay there as they suck you dry. They suffer from groupthink then ask you to think outside the box and challenge the status quo. As soon as you do that, you are no longer considered a team player. They excel at double talk and telling you what you want to hear in the moment but nothing ever changed. It is just sit down, do your work, and be thankful that you are employed. They intimidate people to stay in line by laying off people with up to 20 years of service leaving those behind to work in fear hoping they will not be let go during the next purge.    

The Life Division is very management-heavy and generally does not have much patience or respect for its experts and worker bees who are the bread-and-butter and heavy-lifters of the Division.  Unless you are in management, you are absolutely expendable at any moment, regardless of your excellent work ethic, number of years, devotion, contribution, knowledge, expertise or productivity.  If you value integrity, are respectful, a self-starter, and good at what you do, you probably won't last long.  If you're good at appearing to be good at what you do, you'll be rewarded.  If you're really good about stroking insecure egos, absolutely apply here.  You'll do great.

Perhaps the Life Division has changed since I left.  I genuinely hope so, but do not know, and would not venture to wager...you know how leopards are with their spots...and I was cured of my idealism long ago.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I would say that the benefits. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The constant layoffs, the passive aggressiveness from supervisors and tenured, raises were small. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I made a large group of friends and one by one a watch them all get terminated. Then once I was give new rules in place after being remote for 2.5 years I decided to leave. Those rules were; no more taking my lunch break to pick my daughter up from school, (bc this was at 3pm/even though when I was in trainings w/ CA they wanted my lunches at 3pm-so only when it’s convenient for them.) I was not allowed to have my daughter in my home during the summer or after school without a full time baby sitter. (Even though she had never bothered me during work hours, which they admitted, and my husband and I working from home rotated our 2 15 min and 1 30 min breaks to take care of her.) 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It was stressful and not easy, but I did love the job. It was probably my favorite job because I got to learn something new everyday.

The Company has many issues with employees being happy because management is unaware of the job they were hired to do.  The Supervisors who conduct the one on one employee meetings are texting on their cell phones.  The Supervisors also will not help help in the daily work queues because they state that they are only hired to provide coaching and not assistance with the work.  The Supervisors are not knowledgeable on the work items that are completed day-by-day by the staff.  If you are lucky enough to get another job in the Company you are still required to help your old department if you are low on work. This is without additional pay.

While wholesaling at Pacific Life my duties included wholesaling annuities, mutual funds, retirement plans and long term care. I have experience and relationships in all channels of distribution, primarily in the Pacific Northwest.

I don't have a single bad thing to say about Pacific Life, nor do they have a single bad thing to say about me.

Great Job.

I recently resigned from Pacific Life after 14 years of service. I left Pacific Life on extremely good terms and assisted in finding my replacement.  Leaving Pacific Life was a very difficult decision, but after months of reflection and deep thought I felt that it was a tremendous opportunity that I simply could not pass up. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the wrong decision. The new opportunity simply did not work out. Due to this fact, I am now beginning the process of looking for a new company/position to hopefully spend the rest of my career

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Actuary 23 salaries reported	$189,828 per year
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Internal wholesaler 2 salaries reported	$70,000 per year
New business specialist 1 salary reported	$89,800 per year
Director 2 salaries reported	$170,000 per year

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