Pros
I worked on the service desk for close to 3 and a half years, I would say that my overall experience was a positive one, even if it went downhill in the last 12 months. The company was good with staff during covid and have always been flexible when time off was needed. There are some genuinely nice people working here. The office is a nice space with plenty of parking. They will pay for your exam if you want to take a cert. Lower end management care about you as people, not just staff. Big all expenses paid Christmas do if that's your thing.
Cons
The below is a review written by someone (likely in management) on 20/10/22. I'm quoting it here because if they have any sense, they will take it down, as frankly, its embarrassingly transparent. However I feel like it is a good example of the toxic behavior that seems to permeate the upper levels of management in this company. I'm going to addess some of the points made in this review. If you put in the work then this company will reward you. There is no doubt about that. # #this may well be true higher up the chain but I never saw any evidence of this on the service desk## You may be expected to pass exams but in a technical role why would you not want to pass exams to further your own career development?! Technical charlatans have thankfully been let go as the company strives to bring in more qualified and eager employees. ##This is actually fairly offensive. Everyone on the service desk wanted to get better and were constantly asking for more progression opportunities. However FL's view is that progression is something that you do in your own time, they don't have the interest, ability or resource to develop their staff. The extreme RBAC and strict delineations between SDA, SSDA and Infra means that you will only ever work on tasks you have already mastered and because there is such an issue with under staffing, the chances of working with senior colleagues to develop your knowledge on the job is practically nil. They have changed their minds roughly every 6 months about how they want to approach development and certifications, which has made life difficult for those of us expected to jump through these hoops. As an example of their development plan, in the past 12 months all SD staff were required to pass ITIL Foundation, as a none negotiable for working at FL, however the company provided no learning materials. Staff were told to "buy a book". The reviewer also seems to suggest that staff have been 'let go', which is a lie. No one has been 'let go' from the SD in over a year. The reason they are currently recruiting is because in the last 6 weeks, 5 members of the service desk handed in their notice to go to jobs where they felt they could develop their careers, myself included. ## The types of technology the company deals with are vast but yet are becoming more vendor streamlined for ease of support. ## this is true, the company does use many different technologies. If you don't already have experience using them though, you won't be touching them until you are certified. Imagine how many individual certs you will need in order to use a 'vast' array of technologies. You may well be retired by the time you get them all. ## A beautifully refurbished office with a wonderful coffee machine, pool table, ps5, massage chair, hybrid working, competitive salaries and career path developments are just some of the reasons you may want to work here. ##Again true, they have put a lot of money into refurbishing the office and it is nice. Its also empty because the majority of staff work from home. The company are obsessed with getting everyone back in full time but as they are currently being forced to recruit from all corners of the country, this is unlikely to happen. Salaries probably were competitive 12 months ago but the market has moved on, FL hasn't. I've already discussed 'career path developments'. The pool table is great, it gave us a place to commune at lunch times and discuss our unhappiness in the company, which ultimately led to the recent exodus. A spectacular own goal that I will dearly miss .## If the grass was so much greener away from Frontline then why would so many people come back? ##Some numbers from my time on the SD Service Desk Analyst hired and fired/left: 11 Returned: 0 Senior Service Desk Analyst Hired and fired/left: 7 Returned: 0 Service Desk Managers Hired and Fired/Left: 5 Returned: 0 Service Desk Team Leaders Hired and Fired/Left: 4 Returned: 0 Heads of Service Hired and Fired/Left: 2 Returned: 0 Managing Directors Left: 1 Returned: 0 ## I wasn't going to leave a review on glassdoor as I don't really have an overall positive or negative opinion on the company but I couldn't let that excuse for a review stand without reply. Frontline is by no means a bad company to work for and obviously my experience has to be viewed as the opinion of someone who only worked on the SD and left because they were unhappy. FL gave me an opportunity and a stable job in an unstable time,I will always be grateful for that and as time goes on I'm sure I'll only remember the good times with a great bunch of colleagues. There are some genuinely lovely people working here, its just a shame that company culture comes from the top, not the bottom.