SAS Institute Reviews in Raleigh-Durham, NC Area

Pros

1. Great company, great culture, great products.
2. Realistic expectations
3. Fantastic people
4. Company does not answer to Wall Street and does not lay people off for no reason.

Cons

1. It is difficult to move upwards in this company because employees stay in their jobs for a long time.
2. Because the benefits are so good, the pay is lower than competition.
3. There is nepotism and favoritism in the organization.

Advice to Senior Management

Some internal turnover and disruption may help to take the company to the next level. Just because an employee has been with the company 20 years does not make them better than someone who has been there 3 or 5 years.

Pros

GREAT benefits; best i have ever seen
Room to grow
Challenging
Everyone is on the same team
Treated with respect and valued as an employee

Cons

Human Resources needs to take seriously and do something about the complaints of employees, especially if more than one person is complaining about the same issue and they are willing to leave a place they like due to the same issue. One bad apple should not be allowed to spoil the whole bunch.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't allow lower management to turn employees into disgruntled unhappy and stressed workers. Listen to employers and take them seriously.

Pros

Easy, relaxed, country-club environment where you can get to play voleey-ball with Sr. Directors and Vice-Presidents.

Cons

Working at SAS is like working at a Lab. Most of the work is academic in nature and rarely applicable to real-life cases. For those used to getting things done, SAS is not the best place to work at. In fact, it is a greta place to work at for those who are contempt with their lifes and want to find a good place to retire in North Carolina.

Advice to Senior Management

Executives at SAS Institute should challenge Dr. Goodnight more regularly and provide accurate information about the market place. Execuitves rarely share information down the chain of command.

Pros

SAS heavily promotes work/life balance. SAS offers countless benefits (not just health insurance...) like aquatic center, onsite childcare, subsidized meals at the onsite cafes, gym, and list goes on and on and on.

Cons

It is difficult to take advantage of the countless benefits unless you're comfortable taking more time away from your work...which is hard to do. Opportunities for advancement are rare since employees rarely leave SAS to work elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't hide from giving feedback positive or negative to your direct reports. If you want your team to improve, then you have to provide the feedback and guidance to make it happen. It is imperative that you lead by example and develop the people that work with and for you.

Pros

Good benefits.
It's a job.
Rare layoffs.

Cons

Depending upon where you are, you may get a supervisor and/or manager who has been there a very long time, and because of close ties to owners, they'll never leave, despite incompetency. You need to simply put up with the insanity. Also, some employees are highly competitive, even if that means leaving you in the dark about needed information or grabbing credit for work you've done.

Advice: Don't go to the on-site medical department if you value your privacy. Also know that everything you say will be later documented in your medical record, regardless of what it is or whether or not it has anything to do with anything. If they misunderstood something, they will argue with you rather than change the record.

Someone said elsewhere in reviews, "No one ever leaves." Believe me, they do.

Advice to Senior Management

Give hefty "early retirement packages" to selected managers. It will be worth every cent.

Pros

Great benefits and Excellent People in all areas of the company. You get the chance to meet with great customers and prospects and show them how to apply the technology to their business problems. The technology is so broad that there are a million ways to use it and to be innovative with it.

Cons

You're spoiled to work anywhere else, especially if you are working at the headquarters location.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work

Pros

The company truly values employees and customers. The commitment to work/life balance comes from the top down and they believe in it. As a result, employees treat each other fairly and well. There is a tremendous sense of camaraderie. And the benefits really are top notch.

Cons

Nobody ever leaves, so it can be hard to move up. There are a lot of smart people there, and a lot of hard working people, but also a lot of people who don't seem to accomplish or contribute much other than add to the process. The "no layoffs" mentality, for good or ill, means that SAS never undergoes the clean up of the dead wood that routinely happens at other companies. The culture of consensus means that nearly anyone can derail a project, even if it has little or nothing to do with their area of responsibility.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to be able to add headcount to grow. You can't both add new talent and keep headcount static unless you move out some underperformers. This is causing you to stagnate.

Pros

Great benefits
Beautiful campus and excellent cafeteria
Many people are very nice and work very hard and efficiently
Dr. Goodnight is an excellent President/CEO

Cons

Some departments are way too close and old timer-ish. You will not get that next promotion or be able to move within the company if you are not part part of the click'.
A VP also takes it too personally when someone wants out of that person's division.

The HR department totally supports the management and not the employee.

Salaries (with the exception of SALES) are much lower than the industry standard.

I don't know who is working the 35 hour work week I hear about, but it isn't people I know.

Many people have their spouse working at SAS and this can present many conflicts. Especially if you discover 'an affair'. Also if a problem arises with one spouse the other can hold it against you.

Advice to Senior Management

I have no advice except maybe not allowing a certain level employee to have a spouse working also at SAS.

Pros

Family Benifites, good working enviroment,

Cons

Less promotional opportunity. low manager quality.

Advice to Senior Management

less politics

Pros

It is a great place to work if you have children and love doughnuts and snacks. Friendly people.

Cons

A lot of dead wood. There is no merit based performance evaluation and promotion. It is managed like government. You get a promotion when time comes.

Advice to Senior Management

Empower your employees more, make the company more productive and competitive by paying industry standards.