Mathematica Reviews

Pros

Interesting projects focused on important policy issues; wonderful culture; smart, supportive colleagues; flexible WFH policy; employee-owned

Cons

Proposal season (late spring/summer through early fall) can be stressful; was getting a bit more 'corporate' when I left; hope this doesn't dampen the generally positive, team-oriented culture.

Pros

Amazing company culture. Friendly co-workers and very meaningful work.

Cons

I didn’t experience many cons.

Pros

Mathematica is a good place for Associate/P1 -level staff to gain experience in a variety of job functions and across a wide range of subject areas. The people are generally kind and intelligent. The company has systems in place to document and disseminate SOPs, and is generally fairly organized. I would recommend this position to people who are very resilient to stress, excellent at advocating for themselves, able to manage 4-6 discrete projects simultaneously, and willing to work for less than the market value of their labor.

Cons

There is a significant culture of overwork at Mathematica, and the pay is not commensurate. Associates are pressured to take on increasingly high levels of responsibility (serving, for example, as Project Managers for portfolios cumulatively worth tens-hundreds of millions of dollars), but they are only paid $55k-65k. Unpaid overtime is normalized. Associates, who are hourly non-exempt, regularly work 50+ hours/week but, like everyone else, are basically required to document only 40 hours on their timesheets. As another reviewer put it, there is a culture of working more hours than are billed to the company's clients. Many staff are spread thin between their projects, some working on 6+ at a time and at >100% LOEs, and that exhaustion sometimes leads to corner-cutting on projects.

Pros

- Flexibility - Low stress - WFH

Cons

- Can get very meeting heavy

Pros

People are genuinely very nice. The environment will rarely be toxic and it does make it rather easier to enjoy incredibly boring work when you love your colleagues. It is also very stable work, so if you need a job to be just a job and not add more value than a steady income, this really is a very good place to be.

Cons

I've come to believe that the reason people stay at Mathematica so long is a) the way the single good benefit (retirement) accrues requires you to complete the calendar year, so one cannot just find a new position when the going gets tough and 2) there is so little trust in colleagues to do anything stretch that one simply can't demonstrate professional growth despite 5 years at the company which makes for very awkward job interviews and very thin CVs.

Pros

Great people and work life balance

Cons

You can find higher salaries and better benefits other places

Pros

Flexible, brilliant colleagues, interesting work. Your career at Mathematica is what you make it. You can carve your own path and project work but it requires a lot of managing up and advocacy.

Cons

Projects deliverables or requests from the client feel "urgent" which leads to long hours and late nights at times. Work life balance could be better depending on the PD you are working with (some are great, others not so much). Parental leave could be better (6 weeks paid) for a company that knows the benefits of having parents at home. No sick time.

Pros

Supportive of work life balance, remote work

Cons

Limited mobility, types of projects available

Pros

Mathematica is a mission driven company full of smart and motivated people. The research portfolio is fairly broad and impactful. Mathematica is employee owned. They offer full-time WFH and hybrid arrangements.

Cons

The pay scale at Mathematica for Jr staff has fallen way behind the industry, especially for analysts who pull much of the weight on project delivery. The job frequently exceeds the 40 billable hours we’re required to log each week. Benefits are likewise lackluster. The promotion schedule for analyst->researcher usually takes 5 years (and sometimes much longer) with no intermediate promotions. There is very little transparency in promotion criteria. In essence, your level of responsibility will increase dramatically each year while your title and salary will not. All of this is compensated by the distant promise of a promotion to “researcher” which the company may choose to grant or withhold according to their whims. Mathematica has a big DEI strategic plan that is referenced in nearly every all staff meeting. However, there’s a notable lack of investment in DEI initiatives. Progress in hiring candidates of color to technical and leadership positions has been minimal.

Pros

Excellent colleagues; efficient, strong processes and systems; high quality work on important issues; pay and benefits

Cons

No work life balance; limited control of career as progress within the organization