Pros
Co-workers were the only pros. Pun intended.
Cons
In consideration of recent reviews, I feel compelled to validate the concerns expressed by others. It is essential to focus on the truth, especially when contrasted with the questionable five-star reviews. In IT alone, nine of eleven employees have come and gone in a little over two years. Let the numbers sink in, because while your co-workers may be the biggest pro in working here - you will not get to work with them long. In the NOC, a department towards which the CEO openly expresses disdain, the churn is even more real. To begin, here is a list of terms and phrases, some simplified for brevity, that past employees have used to describe your possible future: 'insult to any professional', 'chaos', 'walking on eggshells', 'trapped in a nightmare', 'toxicity', 'suffocating', 'manipulative management', 'emotionally abusive', 'disregard for employee dignity', 'do not care', 'lie', 'incompetence', 'pays poorly', 'yells at employees', 'harasses disabled employees', 'constantly on edge', 'no respect for NOC techs', 'poor training', 'CEO monitors emails', 'offensive', 'poor management', 'run by a tyrant', 'screams at people', 'burnout', 'losing talented individuals', 'micro-manages', 'regret working here', 'incompetence and insensitivity', 'harassment of employees', 'will try to ruin your life', 'no worse employer', 'daily harassment', 'threats to employees', 'poor treatment of employees'. If this list describes the self-defeating life you have always wished to be burdened with, but could never find while working for professional organizations, then this is the place for you. As I said, there is little I may possibly write that is new in its scope, in light of previous reviews, but I would like to expound some other reviews and disagree with the statement on joking threats. I do not believe they were all in jest because the severity of the situations in which some were leveraged were, by nature, exclusive of any humor. For example, in response to an employee asking "why did you bring that dog in?", the day after it, a bite-trained Belgian Malinois, had just mauled the UPS driver, he simply responded, with a deadpan glare, "to sick him on you." Mind you, he and the hound were standing in the only exit of the room. All of the employees in the IT room that morning had seen the security footage. All of them had seen the vacant look of indifference while the owner sauntered out to get the dog away from the UPS truck, inside of which the driver was sheltered. There was still blood in the parking lot, just outside the door (photo evidence can be provided). The last thing anyone expected to see again was that dog. Considering that the dog had barked at some employees before, this situation was all the more uncomfortable. Furthermore, the lack of possible exit for anyone in the room, if he made good on that threat, turned an awkward situation threatening. It was most definitely not funny as no one was laughing - including the guy who made the threat. If this level of ignorance and entitlement sounds amazing to you, then you, my friend, have hit the jackpot with this place. Speaking of awkward, do you like to see co-workers abused, berated or belittled? Do you like watching others with a lifetime of professional expertise constantly questioned and, in many cases, completely dismissed? Do you want that for yourself as well? If so, this is most definitely the place for you. On one occasion, the CEO walked into the IT office and launched into a whole diatribe about how "I'm not impressed with those military types at the NOC. They don't do anything until you tell them and you have to lead them by the hand," in a really poor attempt to get a rise out of an active reserve member that was working in IT at the time. Not getting the response he thought he would get, that is, after getting no response at all, other than a smile, he left the room and we got back to work. From then on "I'm not impressed," became a sarcastic code among us for "you did an amazing job." Such random acts of antagonism will most definitely be the highlight of your experience here. Quite a few ex employees still keep in contact and to this day we cannot fathom why an owner would be so openly hostile towards the very employees he decided to hire. Why hire anyone at all if the only goal, at the end of the day, is to question their competence and superior knowledge in their fields of expertise? Why be openly critical of employees that are making marked progress towards their respective goals and going way above and beyond in their duties? Because you would have done it a different way? If tasks are getting done ahead of time and at higher quality, who cares? Why sabotage people who want the company to succeed? But, then, perhaps that may be the rub. Like a small dog barking at big cars, there may be an unseen daily struggle with trying to assert oneself when everything else is big, scary and moving so fast. It is hard to find logic in behavior so illogical. One thing I can say for sure is that it is difficult to even put into words how demotivating it is to see managers and team leads get a dressing-down for not only doing their jobs well, but also when they go way above and beyond what is expected of them. What does that show the rest of the employees? That when they take on extra responsibility and move up in the organization, they will be treated worse?
