KEYW Reviews

Current Employee – been working at KEYW full-time for less than a year

Pros – Fantastic benefits package, competitive compensation, availability of upward mobility.

Great employee perks such as weekly sporting events tickets giveaways, gifts sent to your home for no charge to you, gift card giveaways.

Great communication from Len and the other high level executives on the overall movement and operation of the company at an enterprise level.

Friendly, efficient, and talented people for inside-operations such as Human Resources, Payroll, and Timekeeping operations. Always quick to respond to problems.

Cons – KEYW is a Maryland based company, so the professional sporting events are for Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens tickets. As a Washington DC resident, where is the love for the Redskins and Nationals?

Advice to Senior Management – Continue the communication with All Hands meetings and emails with regards to the enterprise-level actions of the company. It promotes a unified feeling among co-workers, at all levels of their careers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KEYW

Pros – - Great Benefits, Hard to find another Company that is comparable.
- Good Salaries.
- Work environment depends on your contract

Cons – - Seems hard to move to different contracts

Advice to Senior Management – None. Keep doing what you are doing.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at KEYW full-time for less than a year

Pros – * HR is fantastic - I haven't had a single problem they haven't solved in a couple days or less - tuition reimbursement, 401k allocation, stock purchasing adjustment, etc.
* Great benefits - 401k matching is nearly unmatched (ha!) and they offer a Roth 401k, vesting is almost always immediate (stock options generally carry a 4-year vesting schedule), healthcare is great (Blue Cross) and they offer and HSA option, dental is super inexpensive and widely accepted, AD&D and other benefits included.
* Pay is great - definitely some of the highest in the local area for a company this size.
* Lots of different work to do - if you're bored/unhappy, you can switch contracts!
* Awesome holiday parties (last one was at M&T Bank Stadium)!
* Great charitable giving opportunities, sometimes even including free company-provided cash to donate to a charity of your choice.
* Responsive management - any questions I've had have been answered promptly and professionally.

Cons – * If you select the hourly rate structure, you have no leave, which is a bit of a pain sometimes, but depending on your lifestyle it's workable. You can switch to salaried if you like (open season once a year).
* Most of the time you're direct labor, so you have to give the customer what they want (obviously).
* I've been sitting here 5 minutes on this bullet, and I can't think of any other ones.

Advice to Senior Management – As far as I can tell, upper management is doing great. I don't know why there wasn't a Bagel Breakfast for quite a while (probably the move to Milestone), but I like those so keep them going.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KEYW full-time for more than a year

Pros – I've been able to find the work that most interests me here. I find their healthcare, vacation, and retirement to be way above par for the industry. I like that they will help me find new work when I'm looking for a change.

Cons – Lots of moving pieces right now.

Advice to Senior Management – More events for the employees that work on customer sites. Tough to get to the corporate office sometimes.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KEYW full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Company often goes above and beyond for its employees. They take a professional and personal interest. Other public companies I've worked for try to nickel and dime their employees. They have only improved funds for employees such as training since going public.

Cons – Often with companies that acquire companies sometimes there is a struggle with establishing identity. Keyw is still making a uniform brand to employees and external customers.

Current Employee – been working at KEYW full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – PTO is among the best in industry, 401k matching is superior, health care his great

Cons – This company is a "body shop" so to speak. Highly motivated individuals seeking a challenge would probably be better served and valued with another company. I think salary is approximately 20% below market. Many people I have spoken with have had the impression they were going to do something other that what they are actually doing, but this happens at many companies. Simply put, management only cares about you as a person upon initial hire, after that you are a dollar sign or a number to them.

Advice to Senior Management – Communicate with employees in a fashion other than the quarterly financial briefings.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at KEYW

Pros – Option to telecommute
Flex time
Good paid time off

Cons – Management makes it very difficult to understand what the heck is going on - constant reshuffling and being dumped under random managers who don't necessarily care about my project
Difficult to get new opportunities, request for raises / promotions completely ignored
Underpaid

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at KEYW full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The entire company is inovative, agile, and has a good work - play mix. There is even a "Chief Fun Officer" selected every year.

Cons – There's a huge lack of communication, not just virtical in the organization, but even horizontal. The company grew up in the Intel community, and their internal culture shows their background. Unfortunately, it causes a lot of problems.

Advice to Senior Management – Management needs to communicate more with the staff and with peers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at KEYW full-time

Pros – KEYW has some of the best benefits available in the contracting arena: Generous PTO, Tuition and Training, ESPP and a 10% 401k match. They have lots of company functions, such as BBQs, quarterly all hands meetings and parties.

Cons – KEYW has too many managers. The opportunities they have while diverse are mostly subcontracting opportunities. They do not have enough prime contracting vehicles. Would like a medical stipend for not participating in medical insurance. Currently participate in military benefits, but the company provides no advantages to this.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend