Easy to enter, impossible to succeed - Programme Analyst Argo Data Employee Review

1.0
10 Dec 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are some great people, and it's a decent place to get your corporate feet wet and introduce college students to the woes of corporate bureaucracy.

Cons

The starting pay is laughable, and doesn't get much better from there. Management has unnecessarily high expectations on all employees. To just meet expectations you must go above and beyond the call of duty. Many who exceeded expectations were told they were paid well enough for their work, and they shouldn't expect to see anything any time soon. The timelines are bad, enforced by the Iron Hammer of Max and David. Any reasonable Scope Estimates for projects are immediately quartered, and using more than half that amount puts the project under fire. ARGO Management boasted >$150M in the bank, trying to achieve 100M profit annually, and yet no compensation was given to employees. Raises and promotions only happen to those who threaten to quit. Bonuses were promised in the employee "contract", but were never given. I had bonuses dangled in front of my nose, but they got lost in the bureaucratic nonsense. Speaking to a current employee, those bonuses are _still_ promised to "happen very soon" but nothing has come of any of them. Argo uses an in-house proprietary language that is too simplistic for modern day working. Development skills will atrophy for anyone forced to use this language for an extended period of time. There were measures taken to improve that, but getting on the team to modernize the application is extremely difficult and unlikely to happen. Argo never closes, and does not allow remote development! If the weather is hazardous, it will cost you a personal day (vacation must be scheduled weeks in advance), otherwise you must drive in to the office. If a project is against the grindstone (see Scope Estimates), be prepared to work on holidays and weekends. There is no OTP. While there are many good employees, there are lots of bad ones. I have captured many of the employees asleep in their cubes, playing solitaire instead of working, or just idly chatting with their buddies instead of working. It was very demoralizing to know that while I busted my rump to get my work done, these people pulled the same amount I did. Discussing these employees with management was met with "We'll put them on a PMP" and then nothing.

Explore other reviews about Argo Data

5.0
3 Sept 2024
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CEO approval
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Pros

Management cares about their employees

Cons

No work from home option

1
4.0
14 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Everyone was really nice and encouraging.

Cons

The experience is what you make of it.

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