Quest Software (California) – “Neutral”

Pros

The office to which I belong is very positive.

Good project management.

Flexibility to work around personal time is fantastic.

Cons

Most of the Pros can be found at any company. Quest makes you feel as though you're lucky to have these things, and try to hint that most other companies will not be so generous.

Poor salaries (I've found out other salaries, and most people are just as dissapointed as I am, so please be sure I'm not speaking from just my own personal experience).

Poor recognition from senior management: it's one thing for your project manager to state that you're doing a good job, but having someone higher-up recognize the team for the work they're doing (and not just their sales numbers) would go a long way.

Everyone at the bottom level is considered a grunt, and is considered expendable. This is true for most companies, but is quite prevelant at Quest. The #1 priority is the shareholders, and the employees come last, especially those who actually develop and sell the product. This really demotivates the employees. Sharehlders might be the main focus of all companies, but a balance between employee satisfaction an shareholders needs to be obtained--Quest isnt' there yet.

The general theme feels like the senior management will push the limits to what the grunts in the trenches will accept, and then make them feel like they're just lucky to have a job, so they (grunts) shouldn't complain about how they're being treated.

Unpaid time off. Other companies are having layoffs, because they're taking a loss. Quest slips a few cents per share, while still making a profit, and all the employees are asked to take time off. What happened to the CEO taking a zero salary? Leading by example would go a lot further. Simply participating in the furlough program isn't enough--of all people, the CEO and upper management can afford this quite easily. Making the grunts do this seems unfair, and definitely demotivates.

Advice to Senior Management

Lead by example. When something like the furlough program comes along, don't participate--go the extra mile and do something over and above what you're asking the regular employees to do.
Find a balance between shareholder happiness and employee happiness. There doesn't seem to be any balance at the moment--it's all for the shareholders. I'm sure I don't have to point out that dissatisfied employees will lead to poor products, which will lead to unhappy shareholders.