The Ship Is Sinking (or The Little Company That Couldn't) - IT Engineer Lunavi Employee Review

I've put off submitting this review, hoping that the company could make a turnaround and improve things. Sadly, those hopes have been dashed. It's hard to know where to start. Over the last year, the company has been plagued with a very large percentage of employees exiting the company, a trend that continues to this day. The inability to effect any meaningful change in the organization is palpable. You'll be paid lip service to your ideas, but that's as far as it will go. You can point out glaring deficiencies to leadership, and they'll say they hear you, but then it gets tossed into the circular bin, never to be discussed again. You're encouraged to share your feedback via anonymous(?) surveys, but I've not seen a single thing come out of any of the feedback I've shared. To me, the surveys are little more than virtue signaling. To say that there is a lack of structured processes in the company is putting it lightly. Nothing is done the same way twice. There is a complete absence of established processes, procedures, and documentation on the operational side of the business (and I use "operational" very loosely), there and processes that should be automated aren't, which is especially laughable considering the fact that the company bills themselves as an organization that can help clients with DevOps methodologies (which, at its core, is heavily influenced by automation). The company's "public cloud" offerings are backed by a tenuously architected infrastructure and poorly maintained. The ability to adequately help clients is often hampered by the veritable dumpster fire that is the internal client documentation infrastructure. In an MSP, you rise and fall by the health of your documentation on your clients and your processes. Since Lunavi has hundreds of clients, it's next to impossible to commit to memory the specifics of every single one. That leads to an extensive amount of "figuring it out" and winging it when you're trying to help a client you've never engaged with previously. The C-level of the company is the root of the dysfunction. In 2021 alone, the CTO (who also happened to be one of the co-founders) left, the (now former) CEO was realigned (read: "demoted") to President, and the Board Chairman assumed the role of CEO. The impetus behind this shuffle was to strengthen the company's leadership and bolster the organization to grow the different divisions within it aggressively. And if that were the only thing that happened, that wouldn't be a big deal. But, as noted earlier, the attrition rate at this company has risen exponentially over the last two years. The job market is hot right now, and it's causing many employees at Lunavi to reexamine their future with the company. I'll refrain from giving specifics about the number of departures and in which departments, but trust me - it's VERY high; much higher than the average attrition rate of an MSP. And employees aren't the only ones fleeing Lunavi (fill in the blanks; it's not hard to deduce). The company is headquartered in Wyoming. And you can tell. With all due deference to the tiny state of Wyoming (there are some truly great employees who live in the state), it's not exactly a bastion of "real-world experiences." The degree of sophistication one would expect in a company of their size is simply absent. Lunavi particularly flounders whenever they have to deal with a "real" company (i.e. a company in a major metropolitan area with actual processes and complex technological needs). Your career will become stagnant if you're mid-level or above in your area of expertise. The opportunities for advancement are virtually nil. The pay is a good 30% below market for similar jobs. Shortly after the "new" CEO's (he's been on the Board of the company for years) accession to the position, he began making pronouncements of creating "pay bands" that would right size most salaries for employees. After that first pronouncement, no further information was shared. The word around the virtual water cooler is there will be no salary adjustments. They also implemented a bonus program that's.... "lacking" is the nicest word I can think of for it. The bottom line is this: Lunavi is in a significant state of disarray. The new-to-the-role CEO was supposed to usher in a new era for the company, but all that's happened is more of the same ol' same ol'. This is not surprising given the fact that he's a failed Wyoming politician - lots of promises that are nothing but hot air and full of "non-answers" when asked pointed questions. The potential to be a truly great IT consulting and managed services organization is there. Unfortunately, the seniormost leadership seems to lack the skill, talent, and drive to make the significant changes that need to be made to realize that potential.