Growth for the Company, Stagnation for Employees
Pros
First Due has a meaningful mission and builds a product that genuinely helps the public safety community. The company is filled with talented, dedicated people who care deeply about customers and consistently go above and beyond to deliver results. It provides exposure to challenging, impactful work and offers opportunities to develop professionally in a growing GovTech environment.
Cons
The employee experience has steadily declined, and morale is among the lowest I’ve seen. There is a significant lack of trust in senior leadership due to inconsistent communication, constantly changing priorities, and a growing disconnect between executive messaging and the day-to-day reality employees face. Recent equity funding created hope that the company would finally invest in its people, but employees continue to see below-market compensation, weak benefits, and little reason to believe they share in the company’s success. Despite asking employees to help build long-term enterprise value, there is no meaningful equity participation for most employees, leaving many to wonder who is actually benefiting from the company’s growth. Compensation often feels like an expense to be minimized rather than an investment in retaining top talent. A 1% 401(k) match is far below what many competing employers offer, and the health insurance leaves much to be desired. The overall compensation package sends the message that loyalty and high performance are expected but not meaningfully rewarded. Middle management is expected to absorb constant pressure from senior leadership while shielding their teams from shifting priorities and unrealistic expectations. Individual contributors are routinely asked to take on more responsibility without seeing comparable investment in their compensation or career growth. Unsurprisingly, trust has eroded, morale has suffered, and experienced employees continue to leave.
