engineer

telecommunications engineer

project manager

network engineer

planner

Openreach

Pros

Van, fuel card, good apprenticeship pay, colleagues camaraderie, benefits


Cons
The whole apprenticeship needs a overhaul, make time for trainees and stop with the revolving door to churn through trainees to make up numbers to gain money from the gov, to keep up with the work load & competitors. Why not allow training engineers to be mentored for the first 6 to 9 months to enable them to gain experience in the various and sometimes very challenging scenarios and situations a engineer can face. This will enable the apprentices to become competent and confident within the role. That way, you may not have so many failing by the way side and leaving due to much pressure from management and the stress of trying hitting stats to succeed in the role and tick boxes.

With the lack luster training and a very steep learning curve for an apprenticeship its a up hill battle from the start. Where by the end, you'll be crammed with so much info and chucked into the deep end of the network and expected to get on with it. You try to figure it out by yourself with very little physical and practical support to access from patch leads (Supervisors) who usually live miles from you so its hard to build a relationship with them and  have 15 -30 blokes to look after so are not able to spend any significant time to provide you with support with you when you're struggling with the work. Managers are all just stat focused with everything being tracked and because of pressure from above them which cascades down to engineers and new apprentices to get the work done in unrealistic time frames with little to no support.

 It baffles the mind to think that a company of this size and profits is happy to let apprentices go into the field as loan workers after just 3 months of "training " with no field experience and expected to "crack on" and learn the role. Loan working is another thing about the role they don't warn you about sometimes not seeing anyone for a couple of days is not great for ones state of mind. Safe to say engineers going sick for stress is not uncommon. With so many different scenarios possible and situations an engineer may have face such as, telegraph pole climbing, visiting not very nice customer houses miles away from your home ect which all takes time,all has a negative vibe with the job.

 Also, what is with the 1hr commitment for travel at the start and end of the day which is unpaid that's 10hrs a week of unpaid work. For a 1 years apprenticeship program 9 months of this, is the apprentices figuring out the job by themselves with the training not adequately preparing them for going solo, very little support is provided in highly technical, complex and stressful role.

If you cant swim with the role then don't apply its just not worth the stress!

I started at openreach not long after the pandemic, I interviewed online over teams and it was a good experience, the presentation sold the job to me and the laid back interviews, so after being informed i passed my interview it took over 3 months to recieve a start date and contract, just as i was about to look elsewhere for a job, I started with openreach at yarnfield for the first week, training for the rest of the time was based around 160 miles from home for over 4 weeks which wasnt easy, they did say this could be a possibility at interview but will try to get us as close to home as possible, then to find out people who lived just as far away were sent to the most local place to me,but due to covid who could argue.

As i had never worked in telecommunications or as a engineer of any form before, After weeks of training which was quite confusing and not relevant to real life faults or problems I was thrown out into the world with a buddy for 3 days a week for 3 weeks after being promised 4 weeks 5 days a week buddying, I was being sent jobs in areas that were classed as ‘two man working’ areas, alone and anxious and not having a clue what I was doing, with customers demanding things I could just not do for them. 

Whilst training I was climbing poles as there was a week long heatwave, on a 30 degree day I was the slowest of the group and everybody had a break in the shade waiting for me, Once i got down I was expected to crack straight on with the next task, lifting ladders and tools and climbing up poles over and over again with all the safety equipment attached, just to then finish a hour or two earlier than the stated finish time anyway,I ended up quite ill from heatstroke and had to go back the hotel the next day which they took as a sick day even though it was unsafe for me to continue the activities due to them pushing so hard in the heat the day before, and was told everybody is different and some take longer then others but I was blantently punished for this.

The pay was good for a trainee and the hours would suit most, a standard monday to friday with the odd Saturday, it is a challenge for anyone who wants one, I am writing this review mostly for people like me who believed this job could be for someone with no telecoms background and the training would make up for it but it was definitely not true in my case, It was difficult and stressful and sometimes pretty scary. 

Consider where you live and whether you would feel safe working alone with expensive equipment in the areas, and whether you are willing to keep making mistake after mistake and learning from it with minimal support, customers expect to quick solutions not trainees taking 5 hours to find a fault.



A typical day at work varies depending on the role. I started out laying fibre optic cables and building the spine network, which was rewarding and very team-oriented. You work in confined, often flooded spaces under roads, especially in rural areas, so you need to be comfortable in tight, dark environments. Now, I've moved into testing the pole infrastructure, a solo role that gives me a great deal of freedom. You plan your day, work at your own pace, and still hit targets more efficiently. Some weeks you don’t see another Openreach employee at all, which suits independent workers.

I’ve learned a huge amount from technical fibre skills to personal safety, efficient planning, and even managing my wellbeing. Openreach provides some of the best kit and training in the industry, and safety is taken very seriously. They will not hesitate to suspend or dismiss anyone who takes shortcuts, which is fair and maintains high standards.

The workplace culture is largely positive. They go above and beyond in supporting staff with physical or mental health challenges, and I’ve personally benefited from their mental health programs. The diversity and inclusivity here are genuinely commendable I've never worked for a company that puts this much emphasis on supporting people outside of just doing the job.

Management, in my experience, has mostly been great. I’ve had several line managers who’ve been supportive, understanding, and proactive. However, the grievance process is where the company lets itself down. When I raised a concern about a manager, it felt like it went into a black hole. The process dragged on, with no real feedback, and I didn’t feel taken seriously. It was disheartening and made me feel undervalued and rejected, which completely contradicted the otherwise strong support network Openreach promotes. It’s an area that needs urgent attention if they want to retain trust across the workforce.

The hardest part of the job is the physical nature of pole climbing, digging, and being out in all conditions, but if you’re fit and have a head for heights, it’s manageable. The most enjoyable part is the freedom, the trust placed in you, and the satisfaction that comes from delivering vital infrastructure that keeps communities connected.

Okay, I’ve worked for Openreach almost 2 years now as a FND engineer. (Fibre Network Delivery.)

The job itself in my opinion is fantastic, a lot of different aspects to learn and pick up, always on different places and a majority of the work is outside (except some exchange and chamber work).

You get geared up with a van, all the tools you need and all the uniform you need to do the job, as well as a starting salary of around £21500, which does go up depending on what side of the business you’re in (SD or FND) after you finish your NVQ, which, for an apprenticeship is a fantastic starting wage. I’ve had numerous opportunities to advance as an engineer in just the 2 years I’ve been on!

The negatives. Generally speaking, managers on FND are quite relaxed. I’ve heard horror stories of SD managers hounding their engineers and constantly hassling them, which would be enough to put me off the job. The downside to FND managers are that from my experience, are quite clueless with most of them coming from copper background. In general though, again from my experience, managers decide quickly who they do and don’t like and as subtle as they think they’re being, they don’t hide their biases particularly well and if you’re not liked by your manager, you’ll inevitably end up feeling sidelined for opportunities to develop your skills and rise to challenges.
The other negative I have experienced on FND, is the work ethic of other colleagues. In my case, I’d say roughly 3 in 10 colleagues are actually interested in working and the rest are frankly, just lazy. Given that FND generally work in pairs or threes, it’s important to find people as driven as you are. I’m lucky that I tend to work with the same 2 or 3 people who share my work ethic.

All this being said, I love my job, having worked in factories and dead end jobs for 8 years prior, I am lucky to have landed on my feet with Openreach and will recommend the job to anyone.

Don’t apply if you don’t like working outside and aren’t comfortable climbing ladders/poles or working at height

I have been with Openreach for just under a year and I feel that generally it is a great place to work. The training process can be quite challenging considering a high amount of new joiners have never experienced anything like this before and it seems like you are thrown in the deep end when coming out of training and going live. 

A small amount of people will naturally pick the job up quicker than others and some people do struggle lots when they first come on. I feel that the support is excellent and locally in my area there is always help available whether that is from your patch leads or more experienced colleagues. 

A typical day consists of driving round to various places for installations or faults raised which can be really nice to get out and about and see new areas. It can sometimes get lonely but for some types of jobs you do have help and see other engineers. 

The travel time is pretty ridiculous depending on your contract. New starters from 2014 have a clause whereby they have to give up to an hours travel unpaid either before or at the end of your start date. That could for example mean you are leaving at 7am to drive an hour up to the road and if you finish at 4.10 and don’t work on you could be coming home at 5.10, none of which is paid.

They have recently changed the patch areas so mine is bigger, which means in some cases I am travelling 1+ hours from job to job, which then has a knock on effect on the time I get home. Some engineers will always be pinned work 10 minutes away from their home address and cover shorter distances which means if they choose to work on they benefit massively from not giving an hours travel time.

There is currently an ongoing case with the union for this to be reviewed and hopefully it is changed. I hope that Openreach understand in the long run people will be happy to work on and get a customer in service rather than sending a job back at 4.10 knowing that they have an hours travel home.

Good:
Good pay and benefits (less so on new contracts)
Every day is different
From rich to poor, from drug dens, to multi million pound homes, you'll meet a lot of different customers and environments to work in.
Its a very outdoors, hands on job dirty job. Fantastic in summer, rancid in winter! 
Lots of training available, and support if you require it, but you need to have the confidence to speak up and rely on your fellow engineers (not management)
Lots of tech if you are a techy type, but bear in mind, you must be an outdoors civils type, that dont mind getting dirty in all weathers.
If you want, lots of internal opportunities to move about in different areas of the business. 

Bad:
You'll always feel under pressure to perform better.
Lots of management bullying, mind games, to make you perform better. 
If you don't have a thick skin, a "man up attitude and take it attitude" then this job can destroy you. 
Can be lonely, as you are normally always working alone without other colleagues

Conclusion:
If you can ignore all management pressure, and do what is expected of you in terms of your stats, and not feel pressured by unrealistic targets that management can never enforce in a one to one, than you are suited for the job. Lean on your fellow colleagues as much as you can, they will make your job easier. Do not ever rely, or share too much with management as you'll never please them. You are a perishable number on there HR system and confide in them at your peril.

If you don't enjoy the job, handle the pressure after your first two years, then you never will. Get another job.

From someone who enjoys there job, but had to learn out to survive and enjoy the job, being a more sensitive shy type when starting!

I have worked for BT Openreach for nearly 5 years and whilst the role of telecoms engineer is good. The management and resourcing is absolutely appalling. Some I have come across lack people skills and will bully if the stats are below average, I know of many engineers who are stressed. 

Many situations I have felt I have not had the support with regards to training, stores and departments not communicating with each other and when I asked for extra training at the start I was made to feel incapable and had low expectations and at one point the company was trying to manage me out after 6 months of being recruited which left a stigma. 

The stats are a big problem in this company because the focus moves away from preventable maintainance of the cooper network meaning its difficult to get the balance right between efficiency and quality. This also breeds competitiveness and pits managers against each other to get the best stats when so many different factors come into play which are not physically capable by a human. 

I cannot say that I trust the management and the direction of the business isn't clear at low level. They're not interested in the customer or area and departments sit on work such as planning new plant in the area. Its an unstructured environment which needs to go back to the drawing board and really focus on preventing maintenance on the copper network rather than trying to save money and maximise profit and rather than using the stats to justify their shortcomings against the engineer!

I'll be as honest as possible. Joined July 2022 as a cabler on Fibre Network Delivery (FND) - fantastic job, hard graft, little pressure, flexibility in your day, working in gangs pulling cable in which is a bit repetitive but great camaraderie in a gang. Cons obviously when it's teaming down with rain- it soaks you to the bone.

Nov 2022 - moved to Service Delivery on fibre (installs to customer/businesses) on loan till March 2023, wasn't happy like many others but only a few months. 
A week before Xmas- told move to Service Delivery permanent. Morale sapping. 

Where is the planning? Not one service delivery engineer taken on during my initial training, ALL FND. Absolutely ridiculous. The higher ups in this place are clueless. 

Enforced compulsory overtime to catch up on customer orders - working 6 extra days in a 1.5 month period, great for that work life balance especially if you have a family. 

Best part is, there's been barely any work to do on patch since the overtime, pointless!

To top it off I still don't have the tools to do the job due to national stock and supply chain issues. 

Positives are there are some genuinely decent people who work there, you're outside which is nice, see some nice (and not so nice) areas, there's good money to be earned if you want it - more suited to younger lads/lasses with no responsibilities. 

If you're young, hungry for cash you can smash it. If you've experience with working for any decent companies who value and respect staff - honestly avoid like the plague, I'll personally be gone sooner than later and I genuinely can't wait 

Welcome to Openreach, where all you are is meat for the grinder. You're fed a pack of lies when you join that there's so much opportunity and you're part of something brilliant.. when in reality you are kidding yourself if you expect to get any meaningful progression, on average, due to the volume of people within the business there are simply not enough upwards moving opportunities. 

Even worse if you aren't near one of the "centres of excellence" or whatever wanky term they've decided to call the offices they've generously decided to leave open.

Make no mistake and don't fool yourself, this isn't a career, it's Tesco with telephone poles. Get in, make some money and invest in reskilling for an industry that will actually give you a rewarding career.

All management care about is driving stats, local managers your mileage may vary. Mine was alright. Area managers.. again mileage may vary but on average I would say they are masters of the theatre of pretending to care. Typical big company token gesturism about mental health and diversity on full song.

Regarding pay etc, strikes taught them nothing and will probably be having to strike again in the next 2-3 years I reckon. The divide between boardroom and engine room couldn't be further.

Overall, get in and get out. Not worth putting roots down, 5 years is the sweet spot before you're beginning to waste your life here, at least if you've got potential and aspirations. Most of the staff are great, but some are backstabbing, usually that's reserved for managers and managers-elect though.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The freedom to do your work at your own pace and the support from fellow engineers and the pay is above average 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Constant management interference in the way the company operates so there are alot of reorganisations even when they are not needed which causes a very stressfull environment, there's a big disconnect between the engineers and upper management it's like an us v them type atmosphere, they don't listen to engineers, they just use us as cannon fodder when they want to make quotas etc, this was a job for life but they are now making redundancies all the time so no one is safe and they give out most of the in-house work to external contractors now which means there are no long term prospects of staying with the company, so if you want a career to retire in openreach is no longer a good option 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Engineers are good to each other and help out when your stuck but there is a very big disconnect between boots on the ground and the management,soms,ceo etc so this leads to a toxic place to work and alot of people voicing how unhappy they are not to mention the constant redundancies 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Sign on for work in the morning and pick up my days schedule of jobs to be completed by finish time the same day, then it's just a case of planning out which jobs to do first

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Engineer 19 salaries reported	£36,059 per year
Telecommunications engineer 7 salaries reported	£35,400 per year
Project manager 3 salaries reported	£55,333 per year
Network engineer 3 salaries reported	£31,806 per year
Planner 5 salaries reported	£36,440 per year

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