Pros
Having been here almost 6 years I have seen a lot of change and some constants. One of the most important constants I see are Leadership's willingness to listen and respond to individuals. A company at 100 is not the same company at 1000 in many ways, and we may not always like the answer we get when we make comments or ask questions, but we are always heard and responded to. Sometimes that feedback does inspire real change (DEI initiatives, unlimited PTO, office perks, work flexibility etc.). I think the core values that were initially established are still a strong basis for us to hold ourselves and each other accountable as well. To me the fact that those come from the team itself vs. top down, and that WillowTree is willing to continually review and evaluate them as well as call each other out if we (or leadership) aren't following them are one of the best things about working here. The team here is really focused on what is coming from a technology standpoint, embracing new tools and figuring out the best way to work with them. It's an exciting thing to be a part of and it's fun to see initiatives where teams are encouraged to explore new tools around AI and see that knowledge shared openly and in fun ways. Change can be tough, but the restructuring that was announced really makes sense to me. It feels like it fits more with the reality we face post-covid and is forward facing, reflective, and supportive of how teams are organized and structured now. I'm WFN (work from near which means office based) in Charlottesville and the office is a great place to work. There's a Cafe that offers fantastic food at good prices, outdoor spaces to work, wellness rooms, gym, showers, walking trails, even a river nearby. It's genuinely a nice place to be and the people are really friendly and helpful. Just last week, out of nowhere, the Cafe made rainbow iced cupcakes kicking off Pride month, and it's really small thoughtful touches like that which make it awesome to be here.
Cons
The layoffs were tough, it felt jarring for a lot of us, understandably so. I appreciated all hands where leadership gave more insight into the why behind the steps that were taken and what the restructuring would look like. I think that ideally parts of that could have been shared a little sooner, but I appreciate that there are other factors at play and that TD and Steering have said they're gathering feedback and learning from this experience.
