NWEA Employee Reviews about "great benefits"

Pros

- mission-driven means they aren't always profit-driven - amazing retirement benefits - free health coverage for employee - WFH support - company really cares about its employees. Employees really care about each other. - research and product are well-respected in the field - work-life balance will be respected - it is very, very hard to get fired - focus on DEIA, honest conversations about race and NWEA's role in institutional racism gives me hope that cons will be fixed - CEO is one of the most inspiring leaders I've worked for

Cons

- because the benefits are so great, people stay forever - very, very often people did not know how to do their job. If you want to follow basic practices in software development, look elsewhere. They don't even know they don't follow basic practices. - tech debt and ancient tech stacks mean projects take forever and are always sub-par experiences - lots of constant org restructuring. Long-time staff have seen many changes come and go. They know they just need to wait it out and the next shiny new thing will come along. - shifting priorities, lots of meetings to talk about new priorities, lots of projects get abandoned because priorities have changed and they took too long to implement - consensus-driven. You can not accomplish anything without weeks of convincing everyone involved why its a good idea. Once they are on board they want to be involved and want to have meetings to talk about it. - You will have tons of meetings without anything getting accomplished - Nepotism and people hiring their friends has led to a monoculture of ex-educators. Ignorance of other cultures outside this bubble has led to a biased product and blatant racism and sexism in the organization's culture and org structure. - lots of really good people are not willing to speak up about things they want to see change and so although they are not okay with the status quo, it continues - extremely siloed departments. I was constantly learning about whole branches of the organization that I had no idea what they do.

Pros

The benefits used to be great, fully paid health insurance and six weeks of PTO. I don't think new employees get those perks anymore though.

Cons

Egotistical CEO and COO who are in it for themselves, not the organization's best interests. They will lie and treat staff like they are a bunch of sixth-graders. No faith in employees but will listen to whatever contractors tell them.

Pros

I had a great manager and I liked my team. If you get a full time position you get some great benefits. At the time I was there, they offered a 15% contribution to a 403(b) (not a match, just 15% of your salary on top of your normal pay) and more PTO than I've heard of any other company offering.

Cons

There is a lack of standard processes across different teams which is frustrating at best and concerning at worst.

Pros

great benefits package - opportunity to try new things

Cons

talk doesn't always match action

Pros

Great people. Great work. This is a company where people do care about the mission, but in a grounded way, rather than being over top with slogans or trite gestures. The benefits for FTEs also look great.

Cons

This is an older company with a more traditional mindset. If you want to drain the barrel of kombucha and ride around the office on a skateboard, this is probably not the place for you, but with work from home, that doesn't matter much.

Pros

We are contributing to something great. We have GREAT benefits. We can work remotely.

Cons

Sometimes there are too many voices for a process to be done efficiently.

Pros

Great benefits and attempts at work-life balance (not the same for all), high quality, mission focused people. Super cool mission. Remote work and support for for more flexible schedules. Small enough org where people still really care and are trying to make things better.

Cons

-At a cross-roads with their tech investment/identify. New CTO needs to establish vision, share the roadmap, capacity plan. -Org loses their best talent because leaders don't do good enough/quick enough work-load balancing, show appreciation and listening. -Senior leadership (CEO and COO specifically) that thinks 'culture' just happens and then is annoyed when Managers can't magically attract or keep people, or when HR can't keep up.

Pros

Great benefits that have their roots in the education/school year. The company offers between 4 and 6 weeks of PTO per year, highest around. Interesting and challenging work environment Technology is not necessarily cutting edge but offers growth for engineers.

Cons

Facts are not always checked by upper management. The loudest are allowed to steer the company. The list of core values hangs in the conference rooms but are more lip service than internalized from the top down. The message is definitely do what helps your career and standing.

Pros

Most people here are very nice and supportive. There are opportunities for growth. PTO benefit is great and the retirement contribution.

Cons

Has some politics and drama, but a lot of companies this size will.

Pros

Management allows you to focus on engineering - not meetings. Open source is used heavily in many areas of the organization. Good ideas are listened to by other engineers. Great LEED certified building. Benefits are great. Not as good since the recent vacation change. Still really excellent though. The non-product engineering leaders seem to be qualified.

Cons

Middle management is disengaged with vision of upper management. Employees work on pet projects - not necessarily business goals. Some managers spends 90+% time in management meetings. Word of mouth is the only way information moves. Decisions made by people who are not necessarily qualified.