customer service representative

customer success manager

digital marketing sales representative

healthcare customer service representative

staff accountant

Sutherland

A typical day working at Sutherland began by logging into the dozen or so glitchy, outdated, and unlicensed (stolen) tools or software that was part of clocking in, doing the job, etc.

I learned here that anybody with a pulse can be hired by Sutherland, and that every individual in the company underneath the top tiers of management are completely replaceable, not viewed as human, and lied to routinely. It rolls downhill in every hierarchy in existence, but the people above you at Sutherland will really pile it on. More on that in a minute.

Management was hit or miss. I expected each of the managers to be as fake, plastic, and full of misplaced zeal as the employees they parade in front of you during orientations. You know the type: promises of being flown to the Philippines by the company, etc., if only you work hard! Surprisingly, many of the managers were very respectable people, willing to help with issues inside and outside of their scope. That is on one hand. On the other hand, if you didn't play Xbox or Magic the Gathering with the managers, you weren't going to have a very good time of things. I was lucky enough to get along with the managers at Sutherland, and was treated wildly preferentially to employees with more workplace integrity than myself, just because they weren't part of this activity or that activity. I had no reason to complain, though this is a wildly unprofessional and dishonest practice. Managers would tell me stories of how they slept with X woman or Y woman on the floor, only to eventually recommend their termination to the program managers if they showed signs of wanting to go to HR. Back-end manipulation of the production floor's tools were made, too. If you played Xbox with the right managers, only very easy, short phone calls from a certain phone queue would be routed to you. If you were one of the individuals on the floor unlucky enough to go to bars with the managers, sleep with them, or play Xbox with them outside of work, you would be put into a special phone queue that only they know about, wherein you'll be flooded with the floor's most difficult customers, calls, etc. This allows them, and their friends, the freedom to spend all day watching Youtube, Facebook, their cellphones, and card games with eachother all day, while those not smart enough to see what was happening were burdened with all of the hard work.

Co-workers were the best part of the job. They ranged in age from 18-60+, and everybody seemed to get along well. There were, however, a *lot* of snitches. If you have conversations with co-workers, expect there to be a litany of eavesdroppers who will take your information to your managers. Usually, in private, the managers will laugh about the incident and tell you not to worry about things. Only weirdos get offended and run to HR, but you still need to be very careful about what you say here. A lot of the employees are bused in from the city, the others clearly waiting for some sort of invitation to retire. Both groups seem to make the other uncomfortable, so expect a lot of snitching, misunderstandings, etc. There will be a lot of people your age, though, to make up for it.

The hardest part of the job is knowing that the company is a predator company. I was made privy to all sorts of "tricks" being used on the employees here, and it is not pretty. I enjoyed the freedom to sit at a desk all day watching Youtube, going on Facebook, texting, etc. while everyone around me worked hard, though it still made me feel awful. The favoritism I was shown was incredible - I worked for the company for 7 months and went an entire 3 mo. period having taken *no phone calls*. Considering this is a call center, that is pretty impressive (or sickening, if you happen to actually be working instead of playing Halo with the bosses). I would then spend entire weeks having placed or taken only one or two calls. Other employees were expected to make hundreds of calls, and we held the same title.

The best part of the job? Eventually, I'd gotten into an argument with one or more of the managers, and had some pretty nasty drama thrown my way in the workplace. I decided to leave on the high note of having earned thousands of dollars for sitting around with my thumb up my rear end before the company realized that I was doing so. So I left. I got up mid-shift, gathered my items, said goodbye to all of the employees in my immediate vicinity, and walked out the door. I sat in the parking lot for 15 minutes thereafter and watched everybody on the phone lines. Knowing I'd never have to work for Sutherland again was the best part of the job. 

Long story short: don't work here. The company doesn't value you or what you have to bring to the table. You are a number. If you are not compliant in their shadier doings, you will quickly find yourself alienated or punished daily until you are let go. I know, because I helped do this to plenty of people. I feel bad about it, so this review was written. Stay far, far away.

Orientation day was fun, everyone was excited to start and be there. The first week of training was fun also, our trainer was really sweet. But after that it turned into a complete nightmare. My whole team was being trained as Resolutions 1 and then immediately switched to Resolutions 2 which is a very hard department. We were told so many different things and bounced around from class to class via Zoom. Management is horrible and there is TONS of miscommunication. Training is boring and they pile you with so much information that none of it even makes sense because you don’t even get a chance to apply what you learn until the very last week. They shove surveys down your throat before you even have a chance to finish training to be able to give them good word, so they pressure you into giving them good ratings because you’re new and don’t want to be fired. Our training center as supposed to be for 4 weeks and then two weeks in nesting and then production. On the beginning of week 3 we were shoved into nesting so we were robbed of a week of training. The week they call “nesting” is the week before production and you have to take two calls in front of QA in order to pass and move to production. The problem with that is, you don’t know what you’re doing because training was such a chaotic disaster. The job is stressful, there’s 0 work life balance, the calls you are taking and the amount of work you have to do is not worth what they pay you. You have to follow what they call “workflows” to help users and hosts but the workflows are not always up to date so you’re stuck when trying to assist people calling in and trying to get help is almost impossible. They are short on people because people quit before training is over and for good reason. Use the job for small pay and then leave as soon as you find something else. The ONLY good things I can say about this place is I became great friends with my team, we all communicate through text group chat and they are awesome people who also feel the same as I do, and most have already quit. And the job is remote. Aside from that this place is a nightmare. Most of the trainers and management knew one another before they went remote, so expect major favoritism. They say comforting things so you don’t panic, but then force and push you right into calls when you’re not ready. They also lie. Would not recommend this place to anyone. I will be leaving also as soon as I get hired somewhere else. We literally had the team manager tell us that the trainers don’t know everything because they are also in training. That in itself is horrible 

I worked at Sutherland for just under 5 years. Starting in 2007. And I am writing this review based on my experience there. To start off, The starting pay is low, However if you need a Job, it is a good starter job. When I started in 2007 it was actually not that bad but the commission structure has changed greatly year after year, and during my first couple of years in addition to our base salary I was able to earn between 1,000 - 1,500 in monthly commission. It was not easy though and while there were some making more, most would be making much less, with my guess of about 50 % of reps getting basically nothing, due to absenteeism or not hitting metrics. I didn't feel micromanaged, but there are many, many, many metrics we were judged by, and in many cases, not hitting certain levels for one or all of those metrics could severely affect your commission. I didn't have any issues with management and I have met alot of great people in my time there.

There is a very high turnover, partly because there is very little room for advancement, and the raise amounts are minimal on a yearly basis. There is not alot of job stability, I worked for 3 programs or clients and at one point was laid off for a month in between and was then called back about another opportunity. There was even one program I was on and we came into work one day and the phones were just off, nobody was getting calls, and our managers said the client has stopped sending calls to us, and that was followed by a layoff, later that day. Many of the clients who start doing business with Sutherland do a 1 year trial period then have the ability to end the relationship, and apparently in our case, with no notification to us. 

The bottom line though, Is this is a decent starter job, but that's all it is, A STARTER JOB,  Mainly for me it allowed me to see how a corporate workplace operates, it allows you to put the skills you use speaking to customers on your resume, and the job will definatley help your over the phone sales, speaking and other interpersonal skills overall. I left Sutherland in 2011 and I used my 4 years of experience there to get me a similar over the phone tech support job, for about triple the pay. There is no doubt that my time and experience at Sutherland, albeit somewhat unstable, Helped me get the current job I have. Sutherland is a job you can put on your resume, and while it may be unstable it will give you some of the skills you will need to turn your job into a career.

I got a job at Sutherland doing what was advertised as a technical support position in an inbound call-center. Training went well and I was very excited to start doing well at my new job. I was warned during training that it was probable that around half of us wouldn't be on the project after the busy season ended. This seemed fair but I was determined to be one of the ones who stayed on the team because it looked like a great opportunity to do something I was good at. Fast forward to about one month on the phones: I wasn't doing so hot on the metrics (customer experience), my manager talked to me and we set up a performance improvement plan, we spoke about how I could better do my job and then he made it clear that in one month I either had succeeded in the plan or it would be elevated to a more serious disciplinary plan (as in he explicitly stated that I needed to improve within the next two months or I would probably have to find somewhere else). Five days later, after I was trying really hard to improve, I was called into the hiring manager's office and "laid off" because apparently they had over hired (which made sense as we weren't that busy). Mind you I was told a week before that I wouldn't be let go for TWO more months even if my performance didn't improve (this was very explicitly stated). Not a big deal, I totally understand that companies must turn a profit and it would make sense to get rid of the underperforming employees first. Both the hiring manager and the HR person then spoke with me about other opportunities within the company on different projects. One of the projects seemed like a really awesome fit (working on Linux, I love Linux) so I interviewed for it. Fast forward a week and no one had gotten back to me so I emailed the HR representative. She finally got back to me and it seemed like she had no intention of ever actually letting me know that I didn't get the position. At this point I think that they didn't even consider me for the position, and that they only gave me the illusion that they were trying. The job itself really was not bad, and if I were better at customer service then I'm sure that the experience may have ended well. If you are looking for a company that will treat you with respect like they expect you to treat their customers, look elsewhere. I would also like to add that it's just like every other call-center in the world where everything is always broken, software, tools, phones, etc.

I went over the reviews and they are completely full of it. If your in a corporate or upper management position than the reviews could be true. I originally came to Sutherland for the Veterans Choice Program getting $17 hrly, but 6 months in Sutherland took about 200 people, dropped our pay to $12, and put us in the AT&T program. 

They lied all through training and said sales wasn't required, yet multiple people were fired for a lack of sales, they force you to sell DirecTV and products that customers don't want or need. It's a stressful environment because so many reps lie to consumers for sales and you have to listen to the complaints. 

Management is awful, I mean horrible.  Sutherland doesn't base your advancement on your skills and tenure with the company,  it's about brown-nosing and making friends with the right people, which is why more than half the people in the program are poorly trained. Literally,  managers do not know anything. Which is sad? 

The Account Manager is completely unprofessional,  she's emotional and based all her decisions on her connections with people. And she doesn't know what she is doing. Which is why upper management for AT&T is always there because the center is always having problems. They have issues with theft all the time and fraudulent sales, but they won't do anything until the client makes a huge deal out of it, the fraud is always people they praised to high sales but find out months later that they stole customer's info and made fake accounts. They have fired several managers and reps for theft. The account manager ignored her managers inappropriate behavior, yet again she is unprofessional herself so it's easy to ignore.

Sutherland is not a secure place to work, in the 4 yrs I have been there 7 programs have closed. 7 in 4yrs. Their insurance is extremely high,I was paying $115 every 2 weeks, with a copay and high deductible and max, they offer PTO, which gives you a total of 3.5 hrs every month, no sick leave or vacation. The h highest raise in the whole program for the quarter was $.75, yet they brag that they are a billion dollar BPO.

Do yourself a favor, don't get stuck at this place or waste your time.  I used to work for ACS/Xerox and they were better than this place.

You were constantly under pressure, if your numbers were not 100% on a daily basis you would soon have to sign an agreement called a (PIP) form, stating that you agree with being terminated at the end of a 30 or 60 day period, or transfer out of that particular office, which I believe created a stressful situation within me. I felt if I did that, I failed at being a good employee and at being myself.

In hindsight, I wish I would've just transfered out.

You also were not allowed to view and prepare what we called macro's (a set of selected verbiage used to help customers with the most frequently asked questions) during overtime hours AND the time was limited during regular hours as well. Most of the time when new product was launched, they did not have the answer either.

When I was let go, I was not given a warning or suspension which one of the managers suggested however, they decided they were sticking to company policy and insinuated that I misused company time. Which I though unfair, writing a letter to the degree that I thought it unfair. What I learned was to never go the extra mile, unless I looked into it further to be sure that I would never compromise or sacrifice my job or position, in doing so.

I enjoyed the people I worked with and I enjoyed the job also. I thought management to be professional except in the handling of this particular situation, there was miscommunication and I feel everyone involved should have been at the meeting before issuing a termination. I felt as if I did something wrong, however when it was all said and done I found out that 400 people were hired and this was a way to eliminate employees without probable cause.

Thing was, I wanted to do and know more. I wanted to excel in the company, They taught me values, I learned how to interact, relax the customers when they were upset and remedied any problems by either providing refunds or other products and services that afforded the customers atonement for errors done by previous agents.

The hardest part of the job was concentrating on keeping the numbers up to par and making sure that at the end of the day I did a complete and thorough job to the best of my ability.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The job went full remote during the pandemic (and stayed that way), and a few (very few) of the people were nice, honest people.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
- 80+ work weeks (to them remote meant: if you're home, you're in office)
- minimum pay for maximum effort (you usually had to work a position for about a year before you actually got the pay increase and title promotion)
- constant threat of lay-off or termination (The company itself was bad at this, the clients were worse)
- weekly operations meetings were more of beat-down sessions 
- very little to no support
- expertise lacking in multiple areas and departments
- poor-functioning, extremely outdated equipment (PCs and networks out at least once a week)

-note: you'd think I was disgruntled, but they sent me out the door with a lay-off, and I couldn't be happier! All of the above is true, but systems like these have a way of keeping you stuck where you're at, by offering you just a touch more because you're about to leave. Most of the time, it was just title changes with no (or little) pay increase. I personally went through most of these things and witnessed the others. STAY AWAY FROM SGS

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Erratic, disorganized, poor communication, loud (on site), untrustworthy

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Fixing broken systems, getting people's computers online and working (yes, every day for years, and this wasn't an IT position). 
Following up to make sure employees are working (they were remote, minimum wage employees, that tend to wander from the work PC),
Checking and correcting time cards, analyzing data and looking for opportunities to improve, development through coaching, an average of 6 to 10, 30min meetings a  day. expected to put in a 9 hour shift but work loads regularly exceeded 12-16 hour days, especially if you wanted one of your off days to do something non-work related. after 12-16 hours you can also expect a phone call from your superior somewhere between 8pm and midnight demanding verbal a recap although it is sent to their email at end of day, that is provided your day ends before that point.

Pretty BAD.  This company doesn't have an understanding of the mortgage industry at ALL.  SGS' mortgage division recently lost a major contract w/a major client and allegedly, we're about to lose yet *another* client (?!).  Our staff on all these platforms go batsh*t daily since there's NO stability. To make it worse, SGS' Houston site had a documented cybersecurity breach and SGS employee financial information was stolen.  It "got resolved" so they said but no details were really so we can't protect our identity from thieves.  Right now during the holidays, we just want to get to-and-from safely b/c our worksite is located btw Beltway 8 and Bellaire Blvd., on the edge of Chinatown.  The Crime Reduction Unit patrols for gang activity (Asian & El Salvadorian) around here. There have been employee cars broken into while parked inside the "secure" lot and we'll find promo cards on our cars for boxing events and thing (?!) so anyone can walk in!  Multiple traffic accidents keep occurring at the lighted intersection 1 block up the road.  There have been safety incidents from the ongoing bldg. construction (fires!), and people have been hurt by malfunctioning escalators. There are (5), FIVE separate security / guard companies all contracted to be at this same worksite; think about that for a moment...YET: The bldg. security cameras aren't all working and a significant number of the exterior light fixtures out in the parking lot are damaged / don't function (bulbs missing or broken, same for light poles, they're damaged). Employees are concerned about walking 1/2 acre out in the dark to their cars when half the parking lot is rock gravel & the back lot wasn't properly re-paved nor measured by these contractors so our cars won't fit into the spaces. So if someone's out there waiting to hurt you GOOD LUCK.  There's still a lot of panhandlers at almost every intersection so *we need the security*.  The interior workspace itself is trashy; it's physically dirty w/worn, stained carpets & sluggish plumbing in the bathrooms, and missing doors from doorways.  Just a real downer to work in!

Sutherland wants to have mindless robots for employees.  They do everything possible to take away your spirit and dehumanize you.  The place looks like a jail from the inside.  Plain hallways, locked doors everywhere, it’s a miracle if you find your way around.  Then there are all the inane rules.  No cellphones allowed in almost all working areas...why?  Because PlayStation doesn’t want you to share it’s big secrets???  You are to keep all your processions in a tiny locker that way you have no contact with the outside world all day or any comforts from home.  If you are cold you can’t wear a coat at work (no pockets).  Again so when you are getting to work you are in lines to put your stuff away and in lines to retrieve your stuff, more lemming lines!

Also every time you sign in and sign out you have to line up like lemmings and have your fingerprint scanned in, several times a day you will find yourself standing in a line like a lemming, for some reason Sutherland seems to be big on lines and making you feel like you aren’t an individual.  Every time you enter a room in the building you have to scan in showing big brother your every move.  Again every time you enter or exit ANY room you must scan yourself and wait in more lines like the lemmings Sutherland wants you to be.

Also they have no time off until you’ve worked there 6 months.  And you also have to work on all holidays.  So as a new employee you can’t have ANY time off (including holidays) for 6 months...wow. And very very expensive benefits and no company contribution on a 401k.

Also you are to read from a script on every single call.  You aren’t allowed to think or use judgement in any way all day.  You go to the bathroom at exact time every day, you eat at an exact time.  You have no input on when your breaks are and they are open 24-7 so your schedule can very greatly and is open to change at a whim.

To summarize, I would only work here if you have no other options and even then I would be actively applying to other jobs before your soul gets drained from you.

-Pay is low (below minimum wage).
-Management makes you feel like they are watching every move you make... they are not. They treat you like a child repeating the phrase "we are all adults here" or "you are all amazing" profound encouragement. 
-No restroom breaks. I know that is hard to believe, but you do not get to break to use the restroom. I asked a few managers about this, everybody has a different response. 
-The company's website, critical for troubleshooting (job tasks), has been blocked from the VPN for 5 months... "we are working on it". 
-Management is phony. They promise a small reward for performance (I was stunned to receive any reward), it required 6 emails for 4 weeks to receive that small reward. 
-Customer surveys are overly stressed, but you receive absolutely no rewards if you score low or score the highest. 
-Job was not a sales position, but demanded to upsell... no bonuses, so why should I bother? What is the incentive to upsell? 
-Working from home is really fantastic. 
-Chat support while working is convenient but often provides poor advice. "Tell the customer to wait"... fantastic service advice. 
-Every second of your workday is timed. From beginning to end. Timed by the minute and even by the second. 
-You will be called by management (always somebody different) if you are seconds late from returning from break. 
-Management (again, always somebody different) would call me after my scheduled work hours to ask why I was not at work. It was a "mistake" 6 times on 6 separate dates. 
-Work becomes very repetitive. Every day is pretty much the same. 
-Sometimes making callers/customer's happy feels rewarding. 
-Little or no growth potential in the company. 
-It is an easy job after a few weeks. 
-Training is rushed. 
-Management's true focus is to make the "client" happy but not the employees. They make that quite obvious. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 7 salaries reported	$15.95 per hour
Customer success manager 5 salaries reported	$23.50 per hour
Digital marketing sales representative 3 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Healthcare customer service representative 7 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Staff accountant 4 salaries reported	$21.50 per hour

Working at Sutherland: Company Overview and Reviews

Sutherland

Sutherland Ratings

Popular jobs at Sutherland

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected