Pros
1. I truly have some wonderful colleagues. This is perhaps one of the lone bright spots in what is becoming a sea of disenchantment. 2. There are interesting problems to solve. 3. The work environment is on the casual side, as is the dress code. While WFH is a possibility (even in times of yesteryear when we were not in the midst of a global pandemic), it is entirely dependent on your department/manager. Virtually everyone is WFH until further notice due to COVID. 4. The company is very healthy financially, and should you receive stock-based compensation, the stock continues to perform well.
Cons
1. For all purposes, the organization orbits around Sales. There is no accountability for Sales beyond hitting their quota. If you are on a team that supports the sales function (primarily Sales Ops), you will be asked to put up with rude and inconsiderate behavior, constant fire drills, and very little appreciation. You will have the luxury of receiving multiple pings on the same non-urgent items within a few hours because the organization has made Sales believe the world centers around their needs at all times. If Sales makes a mistake, you will be expected to clean it up, no matter if it was 100% their fault. It seems that many in the organization, including leadership, understand this issue and take no action. Multiple employees in Sales Ops quit or moved departments to avoid working with Sales. 2. Over the last few years, it feels like there is less conviviality in general. People seem to be more egocentric in that they view their projects as the most important, and when they need help from others, they expect that others will simply immediately redirect their priorities and support them. 3. There is no real career pathing for most of the company. There are no real criteria for promotions, which means you are at the whim of your department head, as most middle-managers have no real power when it comes to compensation or promotions. Unless you are part of the leadership development program or have a department head that truly cares, expect to not have much attention paid to your career. 4. The organization has now institute forced ranked performance reviews, meaning there are a predetermined number of employees for each department that must fall into 5 different performance categories (5% “exceptional”, 25% “exceeds”, 50% “achieves expectations”, 15% “development needed”, 5% “unacceptable”). Even if you truly had a department full of high performing employees, your department head would still be required to adhere to this curve. The bottom 5% are to be managed out of the company, which is a friendly way of saying fired. Of course, leadership denies this, but it is not a mere coincidence that these people are let go after review season. Most of these people are probably blindsided because, despite the fact that Axon has a performance improvement plan, most employees are not given the chance to be placed on one...they are just generally terminated without warning. While “expect candor” is one of Axon’s values, in reality, most managers seem to avoid performance-related conversations to shy away from any conflict. 5. Diversity (or lack thereof) continues to be a problem, and I say that as a straight white male. There have been some improvements, but after hearing about it being a priority for years, it's apparent that it isn't. There have also been some rumblings regarding potential gender and racial pay gap issues. This has been asked about in townhall meetings, and leadership continually skirts the issue by saying they’re looking into it. They have finally opened a role for a D&I director, but I am skeptical it will change much. It also feels like they’ve ignored the diversity issue for years, and only now that it’s the cause du jour for corporations everywhere, they’re finally on board. Suffice it to say, it does not feel very sincere. 6. Work/life balance is trending downward. There is unlimited PTO, but the culture dictates that you will answer emails and be responsive while you are on PTO. The company has said there is no expectation that you work long hours...just that you complete your work on time. Unfortunately, on-time generally means “right this minute”, and many teams simply lack the headcount or resources to adequately keep up with demands, other than to work long hours and simply dream of being able to take undisturbed PTO. Sure, the company has tried to address stress and mental health concerns by adding free mental health support via a service called Ginger. Maybe you wouldn’t have so many employees requiring mental health services if you simply treated them better. 7. The organization is very top-heavy. We seem to constantly hire new VPs, with presumably high salaries. It feels like there are too many people at the top giving orders and not enough people to actually do the work.
