bilingual customer service associate

assistant service

chargé de recherches

customer service representative

mailroom clerk

Allianz Global Assistance

This company has a vision to be helpful & supportive to their clients. However, it's nearly impossible when the reality is they are an insurance company. When clients were in stressful, unknown and vulnerable situations we could never use the word "covered" so it just added to their stress and confusion. On top of that there are multiple case managers in multiple cases, there is no case ownership. Naturally, there is constantly information being lost, clients repeatedly telling their story and frustration between case managers as well as clients. New case managers are not trained well and essentially forced to "wing it" once out on the floor;  there is very minimal support from both senior case managers and supervisors. You could have a client on hold for upwards of 10 minutes just trying to find someone to help you answer a question. No one was on the same page, you could ask two supervisors the same question and they would have two different answers. A lot of times when you ask for help the supervisors don't even look at the case and valuable information gets lost. 

This company also lacks trust in it's employees, everything is monitored - when you enter the building, when you log into your computer, what you're doing on your computer, when you're in the bathroom, when you're on break, lunch, etc. You are expected to change your status as you do different things throughout the day. A co-worker of mine got "in trouble" for changing her status 30 seconds late. You get questioned if you are "offline" even if you are actually working on something because it interferes with their "stats" or they question if you are actually doing your job. There is not a lot of collaboration here between case managers and supervisors. In the "team meetings" it's typically the supervisor telling everyone this is how it's going to be and there's very little room for discussion. To be fair, a lot of the supervisors have been with the company for quite some time and I think are unaware of how unsupportive the environment is. However, multiple people have made suggestions that have been overlooked.

On a positive note, a case manager position here offers a lot of experience working with people in vulnerable situations and you get a range of experience that will definitely help you secure a position elsewhere. 

So as I leave this company, I continue to ask the question as to whether they actually care about people or are they just another insurance company?

A typical day would be to clock in at your computer and work on your assigned task for the day. Sometimes you'd have to ask for help with your assigned task as you're are unfamiliar with the process as there was little emphasis on it in training or you haven't completed the process in awhile so are not familiar with it. Other than that you complete your assigned task for the day and move on to another task if the first assigned task is done for the day. Management has it good points and bad points. Good points is they're always helpful if you don't know the process and are very flexible with the schedule. Bad points they tend to be isolated and not very friendly/social, a feeling of holier than thou kinda feeling. The company is in the midst of having a poor result in their previous financial year (after being told in training that they're growing) so it's in the midst of changes and restructuring their company. The hardest part of the job was understanding the processes as they seem a little unnecessary and redundant. The most enjoyable part of the job was the hours and the co-workers who make the day enjoyable however, I was stuck in a cultural dead zone at my workplace. Although my job was only contractual and seeing the writing on the wall of a poor financial year I wasn't surprised that I was one of 3 out of 6 new hires in January this year to not be kept. The frustrating part is that 2 positions that are more aligned to field of study in post secondary were available during the second and fourth month of my 6 month contract. I couldn't apply to either one of them as it was stipulated in my contract which is understandable but the second posting of that job was a contract position. It doesn't make sense why they weren't able to void my original contract and allow me to sign a new contract which is something that is common occurrence in the business world but that's the way they work so who am I to argue.

It's a good company and has some solid people that work there but it's essentially an administrative mill for the insurance companies in the area.

Make no mistake, you will be working with insurance, and everything that entails. There is no industry which doesn't employ some variety of cost-savings techniques, and while none of these practices would ever risk a client in any way, it will be a constant battle between your personal morality and the fine print of the clients benefits. 

The attrition rate for employees is high, and burnout is a very real thing. The process of learning how to say "No" to a client is difficult, and absolutely not for everyone. You can be responsible for claims ranging from pocket change to hundreds and thousands of dollars. This is never more apparent than when working the night shift. 

That being said, the management team was very good. If you're honest and fair, you can expect to be treated the same. They are kind and compassionate folk that know exactly how hard the job can be, but they too are limited by company policies, to the letter. 

The wage was barely sufficient to maintain anything resembling a comfortable home life, and any increase in wage is apparently determined by how much you save the company. 

The surprising thing is the comradery that grows between the staff members in the department. Again, everyone knows the difficulty of the job and the weight of responsibility, but there are very few 'toxic' elements. Any that arise are typically taken care of the HR department very quickly, as morale of the staff is paramount to efficiency.

If you like to be busy, can deal with deadlines, awkward scheduling, and heavy responsibilities, this many be the job for you. But if you are concerned about having your hands tied on big financial decisions, I would not recommend it. 

All this said, it offers good training, both in the classroom and on the phone, and if absolutely nothing else it will serve as an excellent stepping stone into the wider insurance industry. 

I was first introduced to the company by a referral from a current employee who told me about an open job position that I was qualified for.

What attracted me to this company was its mandate to help Canadian travellers if they were ever in an emergency while overseas or in the US. As an avid traveller myself, this resonated with me.

In my department, there is a great deal of collaboration and teamwork, and I enjoy working with other like-minded professionals who care about customers and their experience. 

Management is supportive of new ideas and help pave the way for you to introduce your idea and help it gain broader acceptance right through to implementation and measurement. I can also see that senior management is working hard to action feedback from the employee survey and have introduced more opportunities to meet with them face-to-face at Breakfasts and during Leader calls.  They've also improved how they run Town Halls to provide more strategic company information to all levels of the company.

The most enjoyable aspects of working at Allianz Global Assistance are the great supportive colleagues to work with every day, flexibility to work from home on occasion or as needed, WorkWell initiatives that encourage work/life balance, opportunities to volunteer with charitable events such as Dreams Take Flight and SickKids Heatwave Soccer, and access to senior leadership. Overall - it's a great place to learn and grow and contribute!

I started working at Allianz Global Assistance as a bilingal sales agent in the TD Sales department in November of 2017. At first I thought this would be a great stepping stone if I decided to persue a career in insurance. The office culture is great, coworkers are all very friendly, benefits are decent, and the pay is good enough to live in the area.

It all falls apart at the management level though. We were told that after 6 months we could apply to other roles in other departments. What they didn't tell us is that if you're bilingual and hitting your sales targets, you will never leave the sales team unless you quit. On three separate occasions I had applied to move to case management and I was denied each and every time because, "We're too busy, try again in a couple months."

At first it felt like I was being punished for their poor management. They had just let go of a bunch of people (who were good at their jobs) just before the busy season hit. I later realised that they never intended on letting me move departments because I was doing too well in sales. 

If that's not enough, they denied us an annual raise (note that because of this, as the cost of living goes up annually, it's more like a wage cut than no change in wage) and to "make up for it" they gave us two extra vacation days. This was because they had lost something like 30 million dollars, most of which went into building a new office building that is STILL NOT IN USE AFTER TWO YEARS. Meanwhile the upper management still got their bonuses.

They will put their profits ahead of their people. You are replaceable. It's an okay place to work if you don't intend to make a career there, but that's about it.

I wouldn’t recommend this company to my worst enemy. 

They promote bullying in the work place to the point where those individuals are promoted. Nothing gets done unless an entire department complains about a person, and at that, they just move them to another department. They promote people to management because they are a “people person” over someone who is actually qualified for the position. HR is useless, you make a formal complaint about a person and all they get is a slap on the wrist. Nothing happens or that person is promoted to a TL or manager position. The Senior manager of HR is the most out of touch with reality and isn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the package. How she’s in any position of “power” is beyond me. 


There’s 0 accountability on the SLT’s end of things.. half of upper management has either quit or been fired,  that should say something.  It says a lot when they are surprised by the employee engagement surveys and can’t understand why employees hate their lives. 

They think they pay employees what they’re worth, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The lowest paid department makes just over $16/hr while the CEO gets paid enough to afford a Porche. 

Back in the summer of 2019, there was a mass firing, so really, no employee is safe. The CEO says this was 100% the only way to cut costs because the company is falling further and further into financial debt. Do yourself a favour and stay as far away as possible. 

The only good things I can say is that the other associates you work with are absolutely amazing people. And the benefits are good. That’s about it.

Allianz employees are very much seen as disposable. You will be expected to stay over time, and forced to work weekends during their busy seasons; and then possibly let go when they’re less busy despite being contract or permanent! Allianz employees GIVE, GIVE, DO, and DO more and the company does not recognize how hard we work. At Allianz there is NO room to grow and raises are a joke. Depending on your position you will have to work rotating shifts and that includes working night shift... Upper management (One in particular) is a complete joke, I’ve known of multiple coworkers confide and speak with this manager over controversy going on in the workplace and this manager instead of dealing with it or reassuring us employees... he fires them! Majority of my co workers I worked with are phenomenal and helped out when you needed, some senior staff that have been with Allianz for years are just stuck up snobs and when you need the help they look at you like you have 10 heads!! I would say the ONLY pro would to have “work place" experience on your resume, but it stops there. Staying there is a terrible idea, I mean... upper management will most likely fire you because they don’t have the sufficient amount of money to keep employees after busy season is over, OR if management doesn’t like you, they won’t talk it over with you.... they fire you.

In this day and age, every company has rough spots.  Unfortunately this year is Allianz's turn.  Right now, everyone is busy, we work a lot and it is hard.  There isn't always a perfect work/life balance.  However, I have no doubt that our leadership team is working hard to correct this.  THEY want work/life balance as much as the next guy.  If we don't perform or if we are unhappy, then it is a reflection of them and their leadership. This company truly does care for it's employees.  Every year they give more employee based benefits, whether it is a higher RRSP match, or the base vacation bumped to 3 weeks on start (rather than 2) or even market adjustments to the areas that need it.  These employee benefits can't hit all employees all the time, but they are there.  I choose to look at the overall company as I have seen the employee growth and benefit growth year over year and not the hard time we are in now.  I have faith that our leadership team will bring us out of this difficult time and hope that more employees can look at the big picture.  You invest in stocks when they are low and you prosper when they grow.

On the positive side, I have learned a lot about working in a constant state of crisis. 

The company has gone through a lot of change, including staff, leaders, and system changes and it feels a bit overwhelming how long true integration has taken (4 years and counting???).

Leadership at the top has made some terrible decisions, eliminating legacy knowledge, pushing people to seek work elsewhere, and keeping people who add no value to the organization or its staff. 

Leadership (primarily in HR) at this company is completely unethical: favouritism, lack of leadership skills, disregard for the continued success of the company, derogatory and discriminatory language that goes ignored, and an overall disregard for the people who support the "strategy" (which should be "keep our head above water").

The list can go on, but the short version is: this is not an opportunity to grow your career. Work anywhere else and you will learn to grow in an environment that is structurally stable, has a clear vision and strategy, and can make adequate decisions at the Executive level that have a positive impact on both the business and the people who support it.

I have been working for Allianz for several years and I had the unfortunate luck to watch this company go from bad to terrible. Heavy CEOs' rotation and every new CEO has a new plan that fails. This includes the most recent one hired end of 2018. Upper Management (VPs) are useless.  They have mastered the art of self-preservation and ignored the rest including us their employees, their responsibility.  
The stress level is at its highest and there's none you can go to. HR has NO impacts on anything, they can't even resolve simple abuse, homophobia, and well documented racial discrimination cases. 
We leave in fear of being terminated as the company let go, everyone, from the Toronto office and we are stuck with their products which we have no understanding as to how they work.   
We also leave in fear of seeing large partners leave because of the poor service and overall abysmal performance of this chaotic organization. 

Many of us hope to find a new job in the KW vicinity and leave the bad memory of Allianz behind.

An employee that cares

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Bilingual customer service associate 3 salaries reported	$20.51 per hour
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Chargé de recherches 4 salaries reported	$22.04 per hour
Customer service representative 1 salary reported	$20.51 per hour
Mailroom clerk 3 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour

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