Lab49 reviews

3.4

54% would recommend to a friend

(39 total reviews)
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Roman Trachtenberg

56% approve of CEO

48% positive business outlook

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39 reviews

Reviews about "Culture"

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5.0
May 9, 2017

Great Career Opportunity

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I am surrounded by high functioning, team-oriented, and intelligent co-workers. The unity of the company is self-evident in the way we approach work. From sales to development there are strong communication lines that allow us to understand our strengths and weaknesses from a delivery stand-point. This allow us to continually analyze and improve on our processes as a company. Managers are understanding and listen to those they are managing. Mistakes are considered learning opportunities rather than an opportunity to assign blame. I enjoy the fact that I have flexible hours and all that matters is that the work is done responsibly; not how many hours are worked. We also have a kitchen filled with healthy snacks and beers. ION is also heavily involved and is always looking for ways to create opportunities outside of work to create a more unified environment. In all, the future is bright and you would be wise to look into Lab49 as a future employer.

Cons

Not all is perfect. Lab49 has some deficiencies. Compared to top consulting firms vacation days are less than those, but it is made up with the work/life balance. Clients can at times be difficult to work with and when business is going really well like it is now we find ourselves stretched more than the usual.

2.0
Apr 8, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This used to be the place where the smartest people would get hired, and their talents would see the project through to positive results. The parent company drove so many people off, that they are about as starved for any type of talent. Why is this a "pro"? You have them by the shorties at the negotiation phase, if you can show that you're relatively talented, and can deliver. After you're fed-up and quit, there are some people out there who still think Lab49 is a standard of quality.

Cons

It is now a place where mediocre talent is hired for slightly above-market pay, with a vague promise of a possible bonus (maybe), and then you are worked 60-80 hours with little to no thanks. The sales team looks at the technology team as a blunt tool that can be engaged at a moment's notice, with little feedback (let alone appreciation) with regard to their efforts. Management sees technology as fungible assets, because the projects in technology are mostly not that interesting anymore; single page applications that have little-to-no relationship with actual finance, building powerpoint presentations that are supposed to be compliance reports (yes, really), etc. You get to work with an ever rotating cast of off-shore "talent".

1.0
Jun 13, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Great coworkers, extremely smart people (for now... but they are leaving in droves) - Well stocked kitchen and great view from the office (though you will probably spend most of your time at client sites) - Monthly organized "OneLab" events to socialize with coworkers - Mostly competitive pay (but see below regarding bonuses)

Cons

- In 2015 ION Group acquired a majority ownership in the company and asserted a large amount of control over operations. Things have gone down hill rapidly since. See reviews of ION Trading, Triple Point Technology, Financial Software Systems, FFastFill, and Wall Street Systems (all other ION acquisitions) for whats in store. - Was a very high quality software shop, but since the ION changes, quality has dropped quickly and significantly over the past year. The goal is now just to get work out the door. Very little regard to quality at all. - We were paid only 30% of our 2015 bonuses, while the remaining is being witheld until later in the year, to be paid only if a specific number of off-shore employees are hired. Even the recruiting dept (whose responsibility it is to meet those goals) wasn't given a heads-up on this. - Executive team is not trustworthy. They tell half-trutths and lie often to woo and retain top talent, but can't follow through on anything (which is why the most talented people have left or are leaving). In the meantime, they can't figure out why their reviews are floundering (part of their onboarding process "requires" you to write a Glassdoor review, I guess in an attempt to inflate positive reviews while workers are still in that honeymoon phase). Quarterly Q&A meetings are supposed to be open to discussing the state of the company, but are really just a soapbox for management "assure" everyone that all is going just fine! The only real winners in this company are c-level execs and upper management, and they obviously aim to keep it that way. In the end, consider this a stepping stone at best. But with the market the way it is now there are so many companies that will treat you much better, especially in NYC, that it's hard to find a reason to bother.

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