Marginally preferable to unemployment - Anonymous NiSource Employee Review

Many talented employees have fled the company as the aftermath of the 2018 gas incident in Massachusetts continues to consume the corporate focus. Belt tightening is aggressive: travel is limited, annual bonus was cut by ~50% for two years (I'd guess bonuses won't be back at 100% anytime soon), and they even announced the end of break room coffee. What does that mean for you? Well first, ask if you want to work for a company like this - in my opinion, scrounging for pennies has a devastating effect on morale and you may lose more in the long run: productivity losses and employee turnover. But on the topic of annual bonuses, don't get lured in by the bonus range when considering an offer. Ask what the *actual* payout was for the last two years and don't get suckered by any "... but it'll go back to normal soon" talk. The other side to this belt tightening is if you look at the org chart, it's a sea of vacancies, some of which may never be filled. This means rank-and-file employees are getting dumped on and many people - perhaps you one day - are doing a job and a half. Hilariously, they keep shuffling around the same tired set of officers every year or so "to optimize the organization." It's musical chairs. The same leadership group has been there for years shouting into the same echo chamber. The talking point is that "we have such deep bench strength" but I wonder if it's because we can't attract top officer-level talent externally. Anyway, don't expect any major changes to the company without some real leadership change from outside the organization. After securing employment elsewhere I quickly realized how terrible the quality of life and benefits are at NiSource. My advice to current employees is apply to a few companies and see how the world outside looks. I took a lateral position. Same industry, same title, same city. The result? Higher salary, higher employer HSA contribution, higher 401k match, larger bonus, more PTO... you name it, new company wins. Honestly, I thought the culture was so bad and my manager so toxic, even if NiSource asked me to come back with a 50% raise, I wouldn't go back. My advice is look elsewhere unless you're truly desperate for a paycheck. I can't believe how good I feel having left. It's therapeutic. And it speaks volumes about the culture that when I told colleagues was leaving, people from different areas of the company in different states quietly reached out candidly sharing that they were jealous I managed to escape... you guys are in my thoughts.