Sinking ship... :( - Anonymous employee Helix Employee Review

4.0
Jun 5, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing work culture, supportive coworkers/teammates, group outings, benefits, and innovative science. Learned and gained alot of experience during Helix's prime.

Cons

Helix tried to capture a market already dominated by 23andMe and Ancestry.com and simply failed. Not too sure what to make of the new leadership change. Hard to read if he's here to save face for our investors or actually try to turn the company around.

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Helix Response
6y
You’re right, the consumer genomics market place has been challenging to break into, and has largely been a genealogy market to date. Having tested a consumer strategy, we have recently pivoted to focus on population health, which plays much better to Helix’s strengths and is a market in which we have already had some notable success. Personally I joined Helix as CEO because I believe in our mission to empower every person to improve their life through DNA. I also believe in our new strategic focus, and in our team, having worked with Helix closely for the last 4 years as a Board member. I agree with you, we do have an amazing culture and team of incredibly passionate people that are driving innovation. I welcome the opportunity to chat anytime to hear more of your feedback and to share with you my motivations and perspectives on our strong position to succeed. -- Marc

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5.0
Feb 19, 2026
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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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