Firstly, the pay was not competitive for the area. While the benefits and culture made up for some of that, they still could afford to pay entry- and mid-level employees much more than they're doing. Additionally, promotion from within is pretty rare, unless a direct superior leaves there are very rarely opportunities to move up. The big problem obviously is the overall direction of the company. After repeatedly stating that they weren't projecting any layoffs, they suddenly cut 20% of the entire workforce. They obviously severely mis-judged the viability of new products, and rented a huge office that was never more than a quarter full (they're downsizing in the next few months to a smaller space) It's a shame because Embark used to be an exciting place to work that was one of the most promising start ups in the vet world, but that's pretty clearly no longer the case. While the people there are great, if you're looking for a long-term company I'd unfortunately avoid Embark for the time being