Off to the races - time to accelerate! - Anonymous employee Helix Employee Review

5.0
Mar 20, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Helix is an amazing, mission-driven company. Very well backed (just raised another $200M from top-tier investors) and has the full support of Illumina, the market leader in genomics. Innovative platform model that is very differentiated from anyone else - ultimately positioned well to win because of its ability to work with dozens of partners to attack different markets. Great people and culture - collaborative, no politics. Management is committed to the well-being of people and provides great benefits. 3 months of parental leave (for both new dads and moms) is amazing for a startup and shows that they walk the walk, as people actually take their full leave with strong support.

Cons

People get entitled easily in Silicon Valley, and we're not wholly immune. It is annoying when you hear people complain about little things and forget how lucky we are to have this opportunity.

Explore other reviews about Helix

5.0
Feb 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Dynamic fast modern company with lots of opportunities to learn modern tools.

Cons

Modern fast companies often require occasional uncompensated overtime and rapid changing priorities

1.0
Nov 2, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The industry the company is in has potential.

Cons

After a decade, many basic processes are still not standardized. Simple tasks that should be easy elsewhere take unnecessary effort here. Mid-level managers form cliques, handling conflicts by forcing the more reasonable side to back down. Double standards are everywhere. People who don’t do the work tend to oppress those who do. Managers have a shallow understanding of both the work and people, resorting to bullying those who are kind while avoiding confrontations with the strong or rude. There's a constant manpower shortage, and higher-level issues are often dumped on lower-level employees, but salaries and promotions don’t reflect this. Meetings are mostly for show—employees are only allowed to ask trivial questions or praise each other. If you bring up real issues, they’ll either ask you to fix them yourself or tell you to stay quiet. Layoffs have been frequent over the past year, mostly targeting decent employees who won’t cause trouble or those who dare to speak up. The company is rigidly hierarchical, both in title and race. Middle managers give speeches as if they’re important figures, which is laughable. The quality of employees has dropped, and management is full of holes. Issues in old negative Glassdoor reviews remain unresolved to this day. The tolerance for toxic employees and the chaotic management have left good employees discouraged—they either find excuses to leave or simply cut down their productivity. As one one-star review said, this company needs a complete overhaul, not just minor tweaks.

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