Pros
My view is limited to the engineering org. This is my second review of Invitae. The first in 2022 was fairly negative, this one in 2024 will be more positive - despite recent events. Teammates are extremely helpful and responsive in slack. Invitae has always pushed a "team over individual" mindset when it comes to flexibility with remote work, and we've maintained that benefit wonderfully. I have never received pushback when I need flexibility around time off or working hours. If you are getting your work done and not being a blocker for your team it is an extremely remote friendly environment. We have a lot of legacy systems that lack documentation (who doesn't). While domain knowledge in some areas is lacking, teammates frequently help each other dig into areas they're not familiar with. You're never on your own when diving into the tech-debt abyss. This is a pro and a con, but we have an extremely broad tech stack. It is impossible to stay only a frontend/backend/devops engineer. Everyone is expected to at least be capable of full-stack engineering. And if you need help in a particular area, we have an extremely helpful team and active slack channels. As a final pro, the work we do does actually help patients and providers assess their genetic health. It's easy to get lost in the technology, but when you put it all together the work we do directly empowers patients to make life-impacting decisions. I would recommend Invitae to other engineers that are looking for a challenge and are not put off by the company's rocky history. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend it during the current legal process, I would easily recommend it if our structure doesn't change drastically as a result.
Cons
Yes, we have had multiple layoffs recently. As of Feb 2024, the company is going through chapter 11 filings that should wrap up in July. The previous leadership made extremely poor financial decisions and made acquisitions of companies and products that were never well integrated into the core business. This wracked up major debt. I think the new (current) leadership team under Ken should get some praise for actually making the hard decision to exit the sectors that aren't paying off, and taking actions to allow the current bankruptcy filings to even be possible. Layoffs suck, and the manner some of these were done could have been more professional or better timed (right before Christmas was horrible). That said, the current leadership is making active efforts to keep the company going. As a separate Con, our company and organizational leadership has and still does struggle at times at prioritizing features and roadmaps. We have repeatedly dedicated time and resources to programs that never launch, or that don't actually help the business. This is still an issue that effects the engineering org in particular.