Pros
* The Dev team is generally a low ego group & willing to help. * The problem space is interesting, though limited. The company does one thing - oil & gas communication polling engines. * WFH established during COVID remains in place. Don't expect perks though. * The day before a holiday break, they'll close the office early. * Occasional happy hours * There was once decent individual autonomy & control to spearhead projects that made an impact. * Some diversity, but minority hires are treated like novelties - by upper management. * The founders were great - kind, thoughtful people who built a culture of trust. That is why people stayed, despite below-average compensation. However, the founders are mostly retired and less involved now.
Cons
* When the founders' son took over as CEO, insurance coverage was gutted, perks were cut, and raises & bonuses stopped - even as the company experienced record gross profits that first couple years (because of the good people already in place). He will text ICs directly for project status updates and sometimes lurks in each dev team's morning stand-ups. He has told me he uses that to determine if people are remaining productive, despite lacking any technical background to understand the discussion! He doesn't trust the technical leadership, so he goes around them. The company power structure has been rearranged, so he can micromanage. In short, he has no clue what he's doing, and the cracks are starting to show. It's a family-owned business, so he isn't going anywhere. * It used to be low-pressure & apolitical. That is gone, replaced with CYA and a succession of would-be middle managers trying to carve out fiefdoms. * Crippling levels of technical debt company-wide - to the point they have an existential crisis - and don't realize it. * On one development team, you will not work on much of anything modern. Tools stay just ahead of end-of-life. The other team has slightly newer toys, but definitely not "cutting edge" as one review says. This is a company set. in. its. ways. * Laptop refreshes are a rarity. I have seen developers using 15 year old!! laptops, compiling C++ no less. * Taking risks is only rewarded if it pays off. * Pay has always been sub-par, even when founders were running things. They'll say it is "Houston wages". Bonuses were haphazard and offensively tiny. The profit share is also small. * There is no sense of community here. None. The talk of "AutoSol Family" is laughable. It is owned by a family; you're not part of it. Morale is abysmal. * Toxic people are left to fester or even promoted. * They tend not to fire people, preferring to make them so miserable they quit…don't have to pay unemployment that way. * Several employees have been let go with zero severance after 10+ years with the company. No warning, no explanation, no PIP, no severance, no vacation payout, no profit share payout. Loyalty means nothing here.
