Verizon: Plenty Of Good Middle Class Jobs But Would You Want To Work There?

Verizon often ranks on the "Best Places to Work" and "most admired" company lists, thanks to its ample salaries, generous benefits, impressive diversity and well-regarded training program. Yet many of the company's employees, former and current, are on a tear about the phone carrier, accusing it of slipping off its moral perch, harassing employees who demand their rights, outsourcing and contracting good jobs, and punishing union members who dare to push back. But given the diminished supply of secure middle class jobs across the country, does Verizon still deserve its accolades? And why do so many workers there seem so miserable?

The company rose from the dust of AT&T's anti-trust breakup in 1984, when the Bell Atlantic and GTE corporations merged in 2000 -- one of the largest mergers in U.S. history. Rebranding itself as "Verizon," it's the 15th largest company in the country, with over $2.4 billion in profits, and almost 200,000 employees, according to Statistics Brain.