Acumen Reviews

Cons

Unfortunately, the building does not have a large parking garage so the employees are not offered the option to drive to work.

Cons

- Anti-social co-workers. At company lunches most people just grab a plate of food and eat at their desk. Many older employees are not welcoming to new employees. This could also be a function of high turnover rate (another con), resulting in people not knowing who is new or not.
- Hypocrisy of upper level management. They preach communication and transparency, but changes to the structure of the company are made regularly with little to no notice. Most recently, one person found out their team was being split, and 10 minutes later she had her first meeting with her new team.
- Some managers are very checked out, and do not care to support their teams, instead becoming a source of frustration
- Inconsistency of HR rules. Although there are strict rules about promotions/management opportunities, these seem to be disregarded if you know the right people
- Hypocrisy regarding work/life balance. For example, Acumen offers Yoga classes (great!). At yoga class, someone from HR will remind you that you need to go back to work if you haven't completed your hours for the day! (not so great). Additionally, during new hire orientation HR stresses reporting your hours on your timesheet, preferably keeping track of each 15 minute increment. Work/life balanace is a product of your manager/team. Although my team believes in work/life balance, other teams work 12 hour days regularly.
- Social events are hit or miss. An event advertised as a "summer party" was essentially a snack vendor promotion event.

Cons

Lack of communication and transparency - there are constant "reorganizations" that are sprung on teams with little to no notice, but management preaches transparency.

No one to talk to - I once mentioned something to HR about a negative experience I had with a manager. There was no plan offered other than "I'll let him/her know that you feel that way". I don't need to play telephone about my feelings, there needs be be better ways to provide feedback about your manager.

Stagnant upper management - A lot of the people who have been here for a long time are checked out. It is incredibly uninspiring to work for and with such people.

Inconsistency - Your success/privileges here are dependent only on your manager. Managers are trained internally and generally don't have a lot of management skills or people skills, for that matter.

Work/life balance - Lots of teams work 12 hour days regularly. A very unhealthy workplace in that regard.

Anti-social office - People here tend to range from ignoring you to being actively unfriendly.

High turnover - This is quite obvious once you experience the office environment, but something needs to be done. It's really demoralizing.

Cons

Acumen hires college grads in waves, and analysts sometimes are brought onto a team without a clear immediate role assignment.

Communication between research/analyst teams and IT/Data Support is sometimes lacking.

Some government clients can be disorganized at times (not Acumen’s fault, but can still be a bit demoralizing). Clients are still typically very appreciative of Acumen's efforts.

Cons

Lack of communication and coordination between internal teams (no one ever knows what's going on)
Disorganized
Failing infrastructure

Cons

Not many perks outside of salary but the salary is competitive.

Cons

Please be aware of all the negative reviews here, they are ALL TRUE.
-Not a good starting point for your career if you are not interested in the policy aspect.
-There is no such thing as data analytics here. You won't have a say to make improvements and make better contributions since they don't value you.
-The salary is insanely low for a programmer in the Bay Area.
-people are leaving at a rapid rate
-They either give you a lot of work to do, or they will let you leave all of a sudden without any prior notifications. They will take your badge right away and watch you leave. It's even not right for you to wander around in the lobby when you are notified for the termination all of a sudden.
-The company culture is weirdly stingy.
-Neither the management nor the HR care about you.
-they prefer hiring their close-knits for advanced positions instead of investing in excellent current staff for promotions
-They are finding whatever "reason" to lay off good people to avoid the cost and "justify" themselves.
-There is no such thing as big data here. They are ruining the definition of big data. It's only basic data ANALYSIS, even not analytics.

Cons

pay might be slightly less than you would like - but still great for recent graduates!

Cons

VISA BEWARE: You have to stick with them for three years (and they exploit this by paying you less and working you harder)
I (as a US citizen) make more than my visa counterparts and I am not trapped for 3+ years needing Acu-sphere's sponsorship
Every team and manager is diverse in how they handle issues, projects, feedback, transparency, and expectations so ask a lot of questions when you get hired!
Health benefits are not very good
Pay is 20-30% lower than other jobs in the Bay Area (this is a killer, seriously)

Cons

Favoritism amongst managers. Top-management could be better but there is a lot trying to change