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Viasat Reviews
Updated Nov 27, 2023
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Found 1,346 of over 2K reviews
71% Recommend to a Friend
80% Approve of CEO
Found 1,317 of over 2K reviews
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Recommend to a Friend
Approve of CEO
Mark Dankberg
161 Ratings
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
Pros
Cons
- "It's fun until you find out you have no recourse against a bad manager, and no one has your back." (in 32 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of Viasat and is not affected by filters.
- 5.0FEATURED REVIEWSep 24, 2023TechnicianFormer Employee, more than 5 yearsCarlsbad, CA
Pros
Managers allowed me freedom to work on a lot of different projects, really satisfying.
Cons
After seeing how our Division purchaser runs things, zero cpmplaints.
Viasat Response2moThank you so much for the review! At Viasat, we don’t put limits on what you can accomplish or specify the boxes you have to check along the way. Instead, we encourage you to design your ideal career experience. All it takes is drive, a willingness to learn, and a passion for curiosity and innovation. We wish you the best of luck in your future career!
- 5.0Sep 23, 2023Systems Test EngineerFormer EmployeeGermantown, MD
Pros
Good work environment to work in
Cons
No cons of working here
- 5.0Nov 26, 2023System Integration EngineerFormer Employee
Pros
Pay was very competitive, schedule was very flexible, work life balance was very intune with family care and you can tell it was a very people oriented company!
Cons
The purchase of Inmarsat turned the company upside down. Viasat no longer had the luxury to be generous to it's people, with Inmarsat leadership taking leadership roles on the top, it became more and more like another bottom dollar company, so much focus is on the bottom dollar now, it took away the customer and employee first culture in which Viasat was well known for and the the reason so many talents joined Viasat the first place. With the culture change, so many are finding elsewhere call home
- 4.0Nov 4, 2023RF EngineerFormer Employee, more than 1 yearTempe, AZ
Pros
- Coworkers are knowledgeable, kind and helpful. Nicer and more willing to teach than other places I interned at. - Good work/life balance. Can work from home most of the time. - Technical projects are interesting and didn't feel micromanaged while working in them.
Cons
- Internal QA team that approves changes do not work well. A single person on the team can block a change from going through despite having no knowledge of the topic and the rest of the team approving the change. The internal QA team generally do not communicate with each other. Other project managers and engineers have expressed frustration at this but nothing is done. A massive time waster for everyone involved. - Lack of transparency from senior leadership on the state of the company. Better to get information from external sources than the internal all-hands meeting. The failure of Viasat 3 would be a good example. They won't mention that the reflector that failed was made by Northrop despite this info being freely available on the internet, among other things.
2Viasat Response2wThank you for the review. We value your feedback and are committed to being as transparent as possible to help our employees understand the rationale behind difficult decisions. We wish you the best of luck in your future career.
- 1.0Nov 10, 2023Member Technical StaffCurrent Employee, more than 10 years
Pros
None. Used to have a ton. Not anymore. Run from this company if you are a young engineer. Run from this company if you are senior engineer.
Cons
Been at this company for 20 years. After what I just witnessed over the last two years, and especially this last layoff I wouldn't touch this company with a 10 foot pole. They have lost their way. No longer an engineering company. The bean counters are running the show, and they just cut the heart out of the company with the latest round of layoffs. Long tenured, senior, high performers that built this company.
7 - 4.0Nov 15, 2023Systems Test EngineerFormer Employee, more than 1 yearTempe, AZ
Pros
I worked with an incredibly team and management and genuinely felt well treated and listened to. Good benefits, excellent insurance, optional Flex time off.
Cons
A major financial setback his year means that the company will struggle for years to come. They've been having waves of layoffs since May and keep reorganizing upper management,
- 4.0Oct 17, 2023Software Engineering ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 10 yearsCarlsbad, CA
Pros
Mark D, chairman of the board, is fantastic. An engineering company founded by an engineer. Wouldn't have it any other way. Mark is getting old and may choose to retire any day. Guru, the new CEO, came in during a tumultuous time (failed FS3 launch, Inmarsat acquisition). I've been at Viasat a while. The company has been good to me and good for me. I've worked with some great people and done some great things.
Cons
Folks who may be good engineers, but not good managers, are promoted into management or adjacent roles. Lots of monkey business in certain pockets. Lots of waste.
2 - 2.0Nov 12, 2023Software DeveloperCurrent Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Remote work friendly. Reasonable work life balance (depends heavily on which group you're in). Some very talented engineers in the company (varies). Performance reviews include feedback from peers and not just your manager. Diversity friendly.
Cons
Pay is not competitive. Out of touch upper management that has no clue what's going on in their own organization. Extreme favoritism and politics in some groups where in-groups and yes-men are favored over productivity and innovation. Expect to be frustrated daily when politics allow underperforming teams to get a free pass to do sloppy work and create broken software that other teams have to waste time to come in and clean up. Company is having trouble transitioning: from hardware to software as a service company, from small startup to large enterprise, from first-to-market bespoke solutions to product-based offerings. Projects and new features have little or no planning from a higher level (still trying to be a startup), system design is left to whoever is implementing the feature. Mentality of some groups can be extremely stagnant so status quo is more important than improvement. After the Inmarsat acquisition and several major satellite failures, the company is changing its attitude towards retaining talent and its culture in general. They had 2 major layoffs just this year. Company stock is at its lowest in a while, RSUs are worthless. The most recent layoffs were by teams rather than by individual performance, so some high-performing individuals were let go. In a company that relies on tribal knowledge, this is not good. No knowledge transfer, just escort people out the building with security and police and don't even let them get their personal belongings from their office. The Viasat you see in old reviews has changed (the good parts at least). Cost is now > quality. Do more with less! Employees are no longer valued and are now just floatsam and jetsam being tossed off the deck of a sinking ship. Long term business outlook does not look good imo. I recommend you look somewhere else to avoid the inevitable subsequent rounds of layoffs. That is all management seems to be spending their time doing these days.
5 - 1.0Nov 27, 2023Sr. Software DeveloperCurrent Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
I used to really like this company and what it stood for but now it is just about the numbers and people getting laid off randomly even top performers.
Cons
Two mass layoff in 6 months, Two major satellite failures. StarLink is beating them with major customers.
2 - 5.0Nov 8, 2023Cyber Security EngineerCurrent EmployeeCarlsbad, CA
Pros
People Culture Work life balance Pays well
Cons
Mass layoffs due to failing satellite.
5Viasat Response2wThank you for the review. We are always carefully considering how to streamline our operations while still capitalizing on our most strategic opportunities and, most importantly, continuing to invest in the future of the company. Keep up the great work!
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Viasat Reviews FAQs
Viasat has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 1,594 reviews left anonymously by employees. 71% of employees would recommend working at Viasat to a friend and 51% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -4% over the last 12 months.
71% of Viasat employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Viasat 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 3.6 for career opportunities.
According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at Viasat to be career development, culture, benefits and the cons to be senior leadership, compensation, management.
