Autodesk Employee Reviews about "senior management"

Pros

Global company with the opportunity to work on large projects and huge, renowned applications used by 10s of 1000s of people+ Access to great hardware and tools. Often a high degree of autonomy, but that may differ from office to office.

Cons

Lots of poor decision making - i.e. making a decision without understanding the impact; trying to implement global change without a strategy. I've never worked anywhere with so many politics. It depends on who you work for and who they work for as to whether you can be given a raise or a promoted. The standing of an office depends on the products it produces and how they are valued. There's a lot of posturing going on because: multiple teams are developing competing products or services (which shouldn't be happening); because acquisitions have been made of poor products but backed by senior people who do not wish these bad choices to be highlighted. I've seen people sidelined or fired for saying the wrong thing, defending the wrong team, or for being associated with the wrong product. Generally the levels of management make enacting change or having an impact can be impossible. Given the scale of the organisation there is a lot of waster and a lot of poor execution of the vision of senior management. The company is able to make huge mistakes and survive because it has a monopoly on many areas and is making such a huge amount of money, where a smaller company would crash and burn. It can also be lost in translation as to which team is responsible for a success or failure and much of that is by design.

Pros

People are smart and fun to work with. Genuinely nice people. Pay is pretty good, comparable with Bay Area levels. Great work-life balance most times. Excellent benefits.

Cons

Poor quality of senior management and leadership. Too many older people. Need more young blood. Need more trained managers. Often, lot of planning and talking, but not enough action.

Pros

Good Benefits, Passionate Staff, Great Products

Cons

Senior management is making progress but still work to do to ensure a consistent direction and collaboration across groups. High level and long term goals present a great vision - rolling them down and shorter term planning inconsistent. Work environment really depends which team/department you work in - some middle managers really micro manage, some not engaged enough. Still has reputation of being a difficult company in which to move up and grow - easier to come in at a higher levels of management from outside than promotion from within.

Pros

This company is cannily managed, well-diversified, and will almost certainly ride out the current financial crisis. They are also extremely well-capitalized, with no debt to speak of. It's a secure, systematic place to work, especially for those who prefer the safety of a large, well-run company. Carl Bass is whip smart, and he and all senior staff have taken a pay cut themselves to lead the company by example. There are some good--even great--people. Overall salary is on par with other tech companies (base salary lower but generous bonus pay), and the benefits are above average.

Cons

In many ways, many of these comments are pointless. Autodesk has a tight hiring freeze now, and probably won't even be hiring to balance attrition until 2010. As with many large companies: there are significant internecine skirmishes that diminish energy, productivity, and alignment; the cumbersome hierarchical structure has created strata where communication gets 'stuck' at different levels, and middle and upper management is starting to lose crucial information; management of the different groups varies significantly -- as does the overall respect with which people in different divisions are treated. If you are working in a weaker or less respectful division, the current lockdown on hiring makes it impossible to change your circumstance, and the poison drips all the way down to every level. In general, senior staff (reporting to Carl Bass) not nearly as competent as he is. For a technical person, there are some negatives at Autodesk. Management often seems more interested in checking off the required tasks from their well-structured to do lists than in genuinely thinking out the best or smartest way to achieve something. There is not a career path for senior technical staff who are uninterested in management. There is a significant amount of work allocated to employees in China and India, while European offices are being scaled back or closed. Layoffs are global (on par with software companies of this size). The current practice (again, somewhat common in large companies) of mandating exactly when employees must take vacation (in order to clear AR from the books for accounting purposes) is antithetical to the very idea of what vacations are for. This combined with no change in expectations or deadlines to adjust for staffing cutbacks means that the current staff will be working much harder for the next year or two. Since life/work balance was not good to start with, some long hours are ahead. Highly creative people may not fare well at Autodesk. Individual thinking or acting in a way that is different than standard is something that happens in spite of, not because of corporate encouragement. Legacy software -- particularly AutoCAD -- and legacy thinking create a serious drag on novel approaches, so product innovation is achieved principally through acquisition, rather than through 'from within' efforts. Autodesk can then slowly but systemically crush the processes and culture of the acquired companies that generated the innovations they wanted to buy in the first place. Often the smartest and most passionate people from the new companies have the worst fit with the existing hierarchy -- or worse yet, are seen as threats to already-established personnel. If you are used to working in a flatter, faster, and more creative environment, being assimilated into the structure of a huge, multi-national corporation -- even a well-run one, as Autodesk is -- can be just as unpleasant as you might guess.

Pros

Strong talent pool in the development side of the house Interesting products

Cons

Little care for employees Lack of sincere communication High turnover Low leadership skills in senior management (VP and up)

Pros

A large community of highly intelligent individuals. A high level of inter-discipline collaboration. Fertile ground for growing professional relationships and networks.

Cons

At times the attention span and level of commitment to initiatives by senior management changes rapidly. What was paramount one day is irrelevant the next.

Pros

Great products, loyal customers and a good reputation as an employer. Flexible work environment (both location and hours), good benefits (including ESPP and sabbatical program). Career development opportunities available if you are willing to put in the effort and the hours.

Cons

Not very agile. Consensus-driven environment creates serious drag on progress. Poor job done by senior management to motivate employee base and create real momentum around business changes. A lack of investment in the back office has resulted in very dated and stretched organization.

Pros

Excellent benefits, nice working environment, casual atmosphere. The pay is decent, and time off is lenient and flexible. Dogs are allowed in some facilities, although Manchester no longer. (I suspect it is to save on insurance costs...and NOT the landlord's decision, as they claim)

Cons

Very poor senior management. Job openings are posted, but are already filled before posting, and usually by the hiring manager's favorites. Senior management far more interested in their quarterly earnings than making a better product or happier customers. Very little communication from management to the 'working stiffs', and people are left wondering what is going on. Decisions are made by people who have no idea of the real world impact of the actions, and no attempt is made to find out that impact from those on the front lines. The Manchester Business Center is being closed, and all the reps being laid off. Their headcount is being moved to Singapore. This is likely a trend that will continue within the company.

Pros

Decent work/life balance - a lot of people can work from home. Nice offices.

Cons

Lack of vision and direction from senior management. Vision from executive management can be too broad, and how it applies to the different business units is not clearly defined. This leads to a lot of ambiguity and confusion.