- While a start-up... it's remained that way for a while now. Almost everything is bought third hand/refurbished and some of the simplest requests for basic office supplies are not even met at times. What's the point in having weekly meetings telling employees how well the company is doing and how much funding/support we're getting, yet you can't afford standard lab equipment? Even the lunches that are provided are mediocre at best, with pizza being presented two-three times a week. The building itself is just dreary and already sets a negative tone for the work environment (if you thought it looked bad on the outside...). 'Casual' is used lightly in the sense that the only thing casual about the environment is that you are in an open space (no walls or cubicles), but that's clearly meant for upper management and even lower management to spy and police employees instead of actually managing things.
- Very little transparency from upper-management on how things are really going at the company. We constantly heard about all these partnerships and how great the product is, yet it just seems like upper-management is waiting to be bought out and in the meantime are just licensing the product out while paying employees pennies for their work. There's an extremely high turn-over rate from managers to lower level employees. The CEO is very rarely there and when he is, barely even tries to get to know the people who are working for him. Instead, a generic presentation about how 'everyone is needed and special at Amunix' is given and then layoffs occur shortly after. This is true even within inter-departmental communications. People just don't communicate at all because of all the negative tension between employees/management.
- Lack of unity. This place is the antithesis of the phrase 'there is no I in team'. All upper-management here cares about is their own progression, to the point where credit is not even given to the lower level employees that sometimes stay hours after work hours are over to complete their projects for them. They push that kind of culture down onto lower level employees to the point where people are rewarded for being childish and telling on others. Draconian rules are enforced, to the point where employees won't even sit down at their desks for fear someone will take it as they are goofing off and being lazy. Meanwhile, upper-management is free to take as many smoke breaks as they please and come late/leave early and not a word is said. As stated, the CEO is very rarely in the building, and when he is it's more for policing people rather than portraying himself as an effective leader. Meetings are often a warzone, with people battling each other for control over what they want to do as opposed to progressively joining together and making a solution that works for everyone.
- No room for any real growth. You're definitely sand-boxed into your position and if you are seen fraternizing with another department, it's taken as you're not working hard enough and being lazy. The only people who are considered for promotions all share similar traits: a certain gender, a certain race, and are wonderful at spying/ratting others out. Doesn't take a genius to see that your career will screech to a halt if you stay here for a long time.
- It's a shame to see that such a novel idea is in the hands of incompetent people.