Truth be told - Anonymous employee Empower Employee Review

1.0
23 May 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice DTC office. right off of I-25. covered parking. few layoffs, immediate 401k vesting, old technology being replaced at blazing speed. These things truly stand out from rest of the companies in the area. Salary/benefits/PTO/cafeteria are average.

Cons

less than a year in IT here. Avg salary, benefits, PTO. @Horrible culture * times two. @lack of trust * times FOUR. @weird policies * times two. mergers have resulted in politics and muscle flexing, and nothing planned by CEO to consciously look to mesh pieces in harmony. 50-55 hr is quite common and people tend to laugh about it as part of their culture. you know peer is on vacation once you get automatic out of office reply. too stressed env. go at lunch time and see how many employees leave for outside lunch (very few). don't be surprised if exec mngt treats you as bottom of barrel vs a teammate to mutual success. not uncommon for managers to negotiate leaving staff by offering more money. no onsite employee led all-hand events (noble cause, BBQ, wear X when you donate Y to charity, etc.). Need permission to add a certification on LinkedIn, cannot participate in any discussion groups once declare your employer name on LI. say what?!. zero casual dress days. if you are working from home you must be twiddling thumbs. Everything is critical and every initiative is highest priority!. lack of focus. You may feel Einstein with brightest brain in meetings, or wanting to bang head on wall reading approach of people in emails dealing with uncommon matters. you may notice more often than not that people get surprised and may wish you could maybe not take timeoff in middle of important things (which everything is!). Goals are not setup till May. few would cover your back as mistakes are not taken as sign of learning. You feel company is trying to go places but is missing foundational things. prepare to bring yourself to work daily and then leave, anything of the sorts of vision/mission, energy, calculated risk taking, team work, trust, laughter is missing in the day. If you manage to assimilate, good for you, else (and especially if coming from a good culture company) ....upto you! purposefully listed small and big aspects so you get full picture of current state.

Explore other reviews about Empower

5.0
18 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Empower fully supports work life balance. They also support and encourage community service. I like the fact that they match not only by monetary contributions, they also match actual volunteer hours with money. Management at all levels is committed and invested in you professionally and personally.

Cons

None that I have found.

2.0
22 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It is a consistent paycheck in an industry that isn't going anywhere. The benefits are average to slightly below average. If you are lucky, your immediate manager will be a real person and not just a faceless suit.

Cons

A caution to the culture : Empower is more interested in APPEARING to be a good place to work instead of actually being a good place to work. The employees were instructed by HR to leave a Glassdoor review IF we enjoy working at Empower. They made no mention of everyone leaving honest feedback regardless of their feelings about the company. That is incredibly telling about the culture and priorities of the company.

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