The Walmart of government contractors - Research Technician Maximus Employee Review

2.0
5 Dec 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some supervisors and managers are kind, smart and know what they're doing; unfortunately, they tend to move on rather quickly to other companies. It is a good place to work if you're a middle-aged woman with limited opportunities (and a husband who makes a good living) who values socializing with office friends more than the possibility of advancement, no matter how well you do your job. Also, there's the occasional good feeling that comes from helping people get the help they need from the state. Also, on the whole it beats working at McDonald's.

Cons

Maximus's key to prosperity is all about meeting the contract requirements of their client, the state. No matter how well the company does, its prosperity does not ever and will not ever trickle down to the rank-and-file employees, who will be paid barely enough of a living wage to support themselves (assuming they're a household of one). Upper management will always tell the rank-and-file staff that in this way, their hands are permanently tied and they cannot do any better for you. In the carrot-and-stick world of Maximus, the sticks are much larger than the carrots: if you don't meet quality and production quotas you'll be placed on double-secret probation double quick, but if you go above and beyond, the best you can hope for is a measly quarterly bonus, recognition certificates that aren't worth the heavy paper stock they're printed on, and maybe a coffee mug or T-shirt, along with an email blast from top management every couple of months telling you "Thank you for what you do." (You know how to thank your employees for what they do? Pay them what they're worth.) It's ironic that the employees' jobs have to do with helping people get help from the state, but that they themselves sometimes have to resort to food stamps and Medicaid because Maximus doesn't pay them enough to live on. Opportunties for advancement are very limited. Overtime is seasonal and unpredictable depending on the case backlog at the moment. Computer servers are frequently slow or crash altogether. You will also be micromanaged to within an inch of your life thanks to software that tracks every second of your working day, and a patronizing management culture that treats line staff like elementary school or at best, middle-school children who can't be trusted to do the jobs they were hired to do. The training programs for call center reps and program technicians sometimes have a tenuous connection to the jobs the new hires are actually supposed to do, and beyond these line-staff levels, on-the-job training is pretty much nonexistent except for "shadowing" someone else in the department until you've picked up the basics. The trainers have the most stable jobs in the company, due to the high employee turnover rate; upper management long ago decided that it's better business to keep training new recruits (taken from a large, local base of docile employees with limited options) every couple of months than keep good, experienced people on by paying them a decent wage. You will also be subjected to constant emails about department potlucks whenever it's somebody's birthday, asked to sign birthday and condolence cards for total strangers, and hit up every month or two with emails from Corporate asking you to contribute to this or that charity (hint: you can't give back to others until you actually get something in the first place). No wonder most employees find other jobs as soon as they can get out of this and into something at least marginally better.

Explore other reviews about Maximus

5.0
22 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good company and good management

Cons

No cons at this time

4.0
25 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good people. They give good exposure to different areas of the company and factor in your interests.

Cons

Can be put in an area that does not interest you.

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