Consensus-driven, but really CEO-driven, culture prevents change and decision-making - Anonymous employee National Instruments Employee Review

The company shuns experienced hires, especially if you do not have an engineering or technical background. As someone with many years of experience, I felt I had to prove myself all over again, which was exhausting. There is a spoken desire to embrace change and do things better, but it is not followed up by action or empowerment. The lack of leadership and authority to drive change is astounding. Every meeting was slow-motion churn to nowhere. Decisions would finally get made after months of deliberation and consensus-building and then the CEO could overturn them in a second. There is no focus or prioritization - everything is important. The pay is terrible and the benefits aren't that great. The laid-back atmosphere doesn't make up for the lack in pay and the inability to drive meaningful change. The company focuses on recruiting college grads, so the more experienced people are outnumbered by new grads with no experience. Management seems blind to the world outside NI and to non-customers.