athenahealth Reviews

Cons

Tough few months saying goodbye to some good people, but ultimately was the right thing to do for the business.

Cons

Nothing comes to mind it is all good

Cons

None at the moment. N/A

Cons

there is a mold to fit and its not for everyone but if you can fit in its a great spot

Cons

- Pace of change may be daunting to some as company "grows up"
- Requires some degree of proactiveness to get the most out of being here
- Morale recovering from recent layoff

Cons

Lots of change and reorganization
Lack Standard Documentation of Work so it can be hard to find what you need
Activist investor looms overhead

Cons

Learning is limited and scope of growth is less

Cons

execution on vision, upward mobility locked due to growth stoppage

Cons

They re-org a lot and while the dogs and beer are fun, there are certainly a lot of office politics

Cons

1. Looming pressure from Elliott Management, an activist investor firm, has ruined the company over the past year. The truth is, although there are open positions at the company, I can't recommend working here solely due to the havoc caused by Elliott Management. They put a lot of pressure on athenahealth to cut costs to "deliver shareholder value" which will be detailed below:
    a. This resulted in several talented colleagues of mine getting laid off, including software engineers at all levels and several other positions as well. Unfortunately, for software engineering, the company is now posting jobs and hiring people for positions which I believe could have been easily filled by shuffling (now former) employees into these positions and implementing a hiring freeze. The silver lining is that most of my laid off colleagues (specifically, software engineers) are in the Boston area with strong job opportunities for them, and most found jobs within a few months of the October 2017 layoffs, during which about 10% of the company was laid off.
    b. The October 2017 layoffs affecting software engineers and subsequent reorganization led to a lack of ownership for certain product features. A lot of extra time has been spent by other teams maintaining these features and fixing bugs in the absence of people who wrote the code and could more readily address these issues.
    c. There has been a lot more turnover in the past year than in prior years for the company at all levels (though, to be fair, turnover was previously very low, especially by tech company standards; it seems average now in comparison).
    d. Certain minor perks were reduced (eg, eliminating accessory desk budgets, fewer team outings and company-wide events). While these perks were small and wouldn't drive my decision to leave the company, it is sad to see them go.

2. Health benefits are subpar, but have marginally improved recently. The health insurance now has a lower deductible option while maintaining last year's premium. The dental and eye doctor plans are only accepted by a very small number of providers in the area.

3. Pay is not the most competitive. It's not bad by any means, but in a saturated market of software engineers, there are far better options for those whose top priority is making top dollar.

4. Commuting can be tricky. The addition of a second parking garage has made it so that one can now find a parking spot on-site after 8:45 AM, and parking is free. However, MBTA options are limited, and traffic in Watertown and the surrounding area is pretty dense. My 5 mile commute is 35-45 minutes one way on average, depending on the day. On the positive side, there are some MBTA bus routes which stop near the office, and there is a free company shuttle from Harvard Square for those who live close to those areas.

I had been considering leaving the company since the October 2017 layoffs, but Elliott Management's takeover offer in May 2018 is what pushed me over the edge to decide to leave the company very soon. With the path Elliott Management is going down, it seems that athenahealth's days as we know it are numbered. Whether they will take over the company or another investor will, it might "deliver shareholder value" at the expense of everyone else who has worked so hard to get the company to where it is today. I'm fairly certain that a takeover of athenahealth will result in even more layoffs and basically put the final nail in the coffin.