MITRE reviews

I worry a lot about the direction senior management is taking the company. The company hired a lot during the pandemic and liberally spent money on all sorts of things (including more VP positions)…but has been losing work in a number of large portfolios and seems to be struggling to find staff work. There are also a lot of projects MITRE gets in on that an FFRDC shouldn’t rightly be taking on. As many people also mention, senior leadership seems out of touch. As a fairly flat organization that encourages questioning and speaks truth to power, I really don’t understand why the CEO needs to explicitly exempt himself from wearing his badge around MITRE facilities. One of many condescending and belittling behaviors exhibited. Changes to PTO and benefits really have affected morale and engagement and it will take a couple of years for this to shake off completely. Long-term it may be okay but the recent changes concern me about trajectory and whether it will get worse.

Benefits are being stripped away and the diminishing benefits trend is likely to continue. Management is out of touch with the changing needs of the business and struggles to implement performance measures that attract and retain top talent; performance ratings are based on who you know at MITRE, not how much you helped and supported the government customer. Care for employees is lip service but in practice, there is little support. Somehow MITRE leadership manages to kill the programs that are adding value and keep the programs that are a drain on employees and MITRE resources.