EchoStar Reviews

Pros

Great co-workers, knowledge is shared and opportunity to work up or across different teams. Flexible time off and management is friendly towards a work life balance.

Cons

Low wages when compared to the other companies in the Denver metro area. It takes a lot of effort to get promoted even when your doing the needed work.

Advice to Senior Management

Cut the fat by firing non-performing engineers and instead focus on the young engineers who are performing beyond the call of duty and compensate them accordingly.

Pros

You're given a lot of freedom to work on very interesting projects. The technology is impressive and is fun to work with. Lower level management is very helpful in filling in the gaps that are lacking from upper management. Strong camaraderie between teams along with a playful work environment makes the typical workday very enjoyable.

Cons

Weak benefits compared to similar companies in the area. On paper doesn't look so bad but there are so many caveats and little details that make them significantly worse. Never expect a bonus for any hard work you've done. Upper level management treats employees like cattle, unwilling to change polices to reflect a technology-based company and instead treats employees as if they worked in a call center. Company doesn't recognize many federal holidays, nor provides enough vacation days for a good work-life balance.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat employees better. Listen to feedback and implement some of the employee's suggestions. Be more flexible in handling of benefits. Provide motivation for employees to stay for the long term.

Pros

Pay was reasonable
Didn't have to work alot of overtime

Cons

Sink or swim type of mentoring
Pretty poor bennefits package

Pros

Offers a great internship program for students; Good environment to get your first out of school hands on job experience.

Cons

Low pay; inadequate pay increases; poor benefits;

Pros

Located in Denver which is a nice, reasonable cost place to live.
Low stress and low expectations (one can easily coast through).
Cheap TV.

Cons

Very low pay compared to industry standards - - - 10+% less than similar jobs at other engineering companies.
Bad benefits for a "technology" company. Vacation time tops out at three weeks (with no carry over provision for unused vacation time), fewer holidays than other companies, fewer sick days, etc. The 401k match is far below the industry standards and has a 5 year vesting period (seems like most tech companies are 4 years). They taut profit sharing but that goes in your 401k with the same vesting period as above so really it only brings the match up to about even with other companies (assuming there's profit to share of course) and then you're still behind because other companies with profit sharing give you a check. Very expensive insurance that provides very minimal coverage. And so on ad nauseum....
No career advancement for a purely technical person - one must move into management to advance. If you fail at being a manager and are still a valuable individual contributor, they'll leave you in the management pay grades without management responsibility (e.g. Directors with no organization to direct) but you can't reach that level without moving into management. And how does one do that if there's no growth or management turn over in the organization?
Very poor program management as upper management dictates a finish date without any basis in reality. Individual projects within the program will attempt to make their parts work in isolation, but there is no coordinated program management to make certain the pieces line up together.
As noted in another review, upper management likes to micromanage details far below the level of things they should be concentrating on - much to the detriment of the organization.
Truly strategic work is really being done. Everything is very tactically driven around today's "hot project" with no one working through the complexities of things that won't be delivered for 2-3 years. Working strategically would alleviate some of the issues associated with lack of overall program management.
Very "in bred" on promotion and acceptance of ideas. Ideas for improvement, particularly when process related, are discounted if the idea isn't thought up by a long time employee. When presented by an employee with 20 years of engineering experience but only a short time at EchoStar, the idea is generally ignored with the explanation that "it's not the way we do things at Echostar" or worse "We're a world class engineering organization(1), we don't need to do that".

Enough for now. I could go on for pages but we'll leave it with this: It's a dead end job with poor compensation. If you want intellectual challenges that will get you ahead, don't work here. If you're ready to just coast through life to retirement, this could be the place for you.

(1) I've heard that expression used and having seen other companies I can say Echostar is at best a mediocre engineering company.

Advice to Senior Management

Bring in people that know how to run engineering organizations and listen to what they have to offer.
Get rid of managers that refuse to improve because an idea represents something that "is not the Echostar way".
Do bottom up program/project scheduling to determine if the finish dates are realistic.
Stop micromanaging and begin thinking strategically.

Pros

As a field service tech, you're never stuck on a building during work hours. You get to meet customers from all walks of life and never gets boring.

Cons

the expectations for performance incentive are way over the top (almost impossible to achieve).
You'll will be exposed to all kinds of outdoor weather conditions working in the field.

Advice to Senior Management

I feel whatever advice you tell them will go in one ear out the other, and is a sentiment most employees at my local office feel. so "listen"

Pros

It is a great company with great benefits where everyone gets along and has very productive days. I would recommend applying here.

Cons

It is very difficult to do all of your work on time because there is so much of it, but it is worth it.

Advice to Senior Management

I would not advise them to do anything because the company is such a success overall. It has been a job well done.

Pros

The main reason to work for echostar is Job security. After split from dish, the company turned around quite a bit in terms of treating their employees. It needs to change more.

Cons

Pay is below market standards.
Management is very bad.

Pros

Stable Company
Many opportunities for career growth if you work hard and look to learn
Many great co- workers
Fee TV

Cons

Below average pay scale
Below par benefits package
Disjointed communication from leadership
Below average time off for long term employees

Advice to Senior Management

Look to increase pay/benefits across the board in-order to retain employees, provide a more clear vision for EchoStar's future an how Hughes will be integrated.

Pros

Always plenty to do. Lots of hands on opportunity. Flexible hours. Discount on Dish network. Tuition assistance for university studies.

Cons

Micro-(mis)management by VP and director level. Lack of proper test equipment. Bogus reward system (monthly parking space or a pair of movie tickets) if you get recognized at all. Poor and costly healthcare benefits. Technical positions pay based on cost of living in Cheyenne, Wy. No training available except contracted out e-learning for office oriented tasks. Company can't get quality help because they won't give a decent wage and can't get any help because they still try to be picky.

Advice to Senior Management

Let the managers be accountable for their departments. Stop making meetings mandatory for those that are not affected by the purpose of the meeting. Enable managers to make decisions. Stop crippling productivity with paperwork.