Engaging Work Undermined by a Difficult and Exclusionary Culture
Pros
Comprehensive benefits. Medical, dental, and vision coverage were solid and competitive for the industry. Fair compensation practices. I wasn’t low-balled during the hiring process, and pay remained appropriate for my role and experience. Engaging and meaningful work. The technical work itself was interesting, challenging, and offered opportunities to grow your skills if you were self-directed. PTO on paper is generous. The accrual rate is good by industry standards. However, employees were discouraged from using PTO when their balance was 40 hours or less, which limited how practical it felt. Travel opportunities. Some roles involve frequent travel for tests, reviews, and customer support — a plus for people who enjoy being on the road. Telework technically exists. Remote work was available and worked well during COVID, even though leadership discouraged using it and tended to treat COVID concerns lightly.
Cons
Hostile and exclusionary workplace culture. I routinely overheard disparaging comments about trans people. The company’s lack of diversity was glaring — I met maybe four POC employees in five years — and leadership showed little awareness of the cultural issues this created. Bullying framed as humor. For years I thought I was the “funny guy,” but looking back I was often the target of jokes. Coworkers and even government customers made comments about my appearance. When I finally pushed back once, I was reprimanded for being “unprofessional,” even though the behavior directed toward me had gone unaddressed the entire time. Questionable hiring attitudes toward neurodiversity. I overheard leadership dismiss an autistic candidate as “not a good culture fit” due to their communication style. When asked to clarify, I was told someone who doesn’t make eye contact or speak in a certain way wouldn’t “fit” the environment. “Culture fit” was often used as a catch-all to exclude rather than evaluate ability. Conflicting direction and weak communication from management. I regularly received contradictory guidance from different managers. Expectations shifted constantly, and I often had to guess what was actually needed because no one provided clear requirements or oversight. Micromanagement without mentorship. A senior coworker frequently corrected or criticized my work but offered little actual instruction. Instead of being taught or guided, I was left to figure things out on my own, only to be told my approach was “too perfectionist” when leadership later reviewed it. Rigid expectations around visibility rather than results. Management required strict 8–4 in-office hours to align with customer schedules. “Visibility” was treated as more important than productivity, sometimes directly undermining the efficiency and quality of the work being done. Inconsistent telework and PTO practices. Employees were discouraged from teleworking even when it didn’t impact performance, and from using PTO if their balance was under 40 hours, which contradicted the flexibility suggested by policy.