I didn't read the reviews of the company before being hired and I wish I would have.
They trapped me in a two year agreement because I moved from out of state and would have to pay my ENTIRE moving bonus/incentive if I'd quit/gotten fired even a single day before two year anniversary had passed. Those were two of the most stressful years I've ever had in my entire career because not only was my work situation tenuous but I was also the lowest paid employee among my peers. Even those who were hired AFTER me started at a much hire wage (up to 20%) higher.
I would work long hours with little pay under the direction of a senior employee who took delight at influencing the management as to who should be fired. I would frequently have to do their unwanted work (as a "training opportunity") in order to stay in their (and by extension, management's) good graces.
The actual wage began to plummet from being competitive in the market to at par with minimum wage when considering 14 hour (average) days some of us would put, including the weekends. Yes, there was $X amount of money in our pockets but if we're leaving the office at 10pm , that averages down to $Y. Don't expect a home-life balance but by God you have to pretend you have one, otherwise you'll be seen as "incapable" and compared to the favorite employees who have augmented/relaxed duties and can be out the door by 5pm every night. (This is a pre-Coronavirus statement so instead consider this to be "Logged off by 5pm" because everyone is working remotely)
It was clear that the management allows this kind of employee churn because they leave the Customer Quality Engineer position on the website permanently, anticipating perpetually losing employees.
After months of working there I felt entirely helpless. Despite being told by management to not discuss salaries among ourselves, I found out how little I was being paid (comparatively) and my manager laughed in my face (yes, literally... not figuratively) when I justified the higher wage I was requesting outside of the bizarre review/raise/promotion period (the window for this was a few months each year, but would change every year so you never knew when to ask).
I resolved to go to the top of the parking garage and throw myself into the courtyard below, miserable and exhausted, not thinking clearly.
It wasn't until I started solving my problems with drinking more heavily that I found my stress was fading, so that became my routine as soon as I got off of work. Unhealthy, yes, but better considering the alternative.
The departmental management, prime examples of the Peter Principle, believe they work for Google or another FAANG organization. They experiment with the staff using the latest management trend of the week under the guise of "boosting productivity" which leads to a load of "trainings" and "stand up meetings", all of which can be an email. This helps maintain an illusion of competence on their part because they're "doing everything they can" to support their "team". In reality, the meetings are eye-roll inspiring and being herded into a training/conference room is just a less convenient place for us to continue working. Seriously, people are working through these meetings because they're planning on reading the email summary later that day when management sends it out.
The departmental management will take pride in this being the pinnacle of their careers because they're incapable of cutting it in a real organization. They fell backward into a position supporting niche medical products and managed to fail upward. They're terrified of being tested in the open job market so will tamp down anyone who challenges their position. This is why competence leaves and incompetence stays.
But if you're reading this, you're clearly considering a position with LivaNova. If you've made up your mind; you'll find out soon enough. Maybe you've never heard of Glassdoor before today and you've been approached by management to write a positive review and you happen to stumble upon this one. If this is the case, I feel sorry you've been trapped.
