Run! Run and Hide! - Technical Writer Scala Employee Review

1.0
Sep 19, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Maybe the employee discount program? But it's the same one every company has so nothing special -What I can say is that certain departments are TRYING to make Scala a place people actually want to work. That's something, but not enough. -None...? Pay was okay for my position, but definitely not in the upper percentile. I think the only reason people stayed here as long as they did is because they'd been with the company since its "startup" days and got comfortable.

Cons

Where to begin. So much of what I promised at signing never happened. -Lack of professionalism: Across the board. No one seems to know how to treat others with respect. Calling-out, threats, intimidation, guilting, trash talk, and more were the norm -No privacy in the workplace: Set up in-office is visually nice but not functional. Ambient noise is loud enough to make it hard to hear each other, but the wide open space and lack of dividers provide no privacy for phone calls or even nose wiping -Not actually flexible: They say there's work/life balance and they understand appointments and such, but that's at manager's discretion...if your boss was a jerk, then you see where this is going. In reality there'll be not-so-subtle questions about where you've been to gauge your truthfulness, nitpicking your "alibi" down to the finest detail. Not everyone is held to the same standard, though. -No onboarding: There was a change to my contract when I got there. The HR person at the time didn't even re-send the updated offer letter for me to sign and was three hours late for the setup meeting on the first day (There's a new HR person, thank god) -No training: Even though the software products are nowhere near user-friendly and are terribly designed, upper management just assumes you'll just figure it out -You're really on your own: Woe to anyone hired from 2017 onward--you're really on your own here. Don't expect much in the way of help or support either. At best, you might get some very vague directives -Benefits suck: This might be improving, but...you get 2 measly weeks of vacation, 5 sick days, and sick doesn't roll over. You only accrue 3 hours per check, and they JUST started match for the 401k and short term disability. There wasn't anything else like adoption assistance -No recognition: This is true even for long-time employees. No such thing as anniversary celebrations or recognition of great performance. -No opportunity for advancement: You can look forward to being in the same position and making the same amount of money for your entire career here. No chance to move up because the staff is threadbare as it is. Raises and yearly reviews? You're wasting your time.

Explore other reviews about Scala

4.0
Oct 25, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice management. Great people to work with

Cons

None to mention at this time

2.0
Oct 19, 2021
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Relatively decent pay at the time, but once hired very little additional compensation given. Some level of autonomy, mostly from complete internal disorganization.

Cons

Constant lies and misdirection, departments and groups pitted against each other. Chris Reigle acquired Scala in 2017 (ish - can't remember exact date) and Stratacache internals seemed similarly dysfunctional. For a relatively flat organizational structure, Reigle seemed wholly uninterested in interfacing with anyone under his direct supervision and was only responsive to making people jump at getting things done. Poor work-life balance - generally expected to reply to messages at all hours of the day and on vacation. Aging infrastructure underneath the cloud offerings. Poor benefits package, increasingly worse every year during my tenure there, expensive high deductible plan and no-contribution 401k. I truly hope this environment has improved in the time since I've left, but I am not optimistic.

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