Systemic discrimination by age and gender (and more) in pay, opportunities, and advancement/promotions. Pay is below market, with a few notable exceptions for white males. Wide pay gaps and no action to rectify, despite RES launching a ‘Gender Diversity’ program in 2018 after receiving pressure in the UK.
Insufficient financial planning and spending to ensure business units will stay viable (regular layoff cycles in the US). Inappropriate decision making across the company, meaning lack of process and decisions are made at inappropriate levels in the company. Lack of organizational and management structure, which translates into a devastating lack of accountability.
If you can get past all of the bigger organizational issues, the on-the-ground work isn’t much improved. Insufficient training and employee support. Serious transparency issues. No work/life balance - even though they offer a reasonable PTO package and WFH options, it does not guarantee you'll be able to use them. Great for autonomy and experienced developers; however, higher ups will end up making late decisions that compromise the project (timeline, budget, key stakeholder relationships) and generate costly rework. Even if they didn’t inform you, you will be accountable to make the changes, whether there’s more time or money available or not. There is consistent employee turnover in all levels and departments and it negatively impacts the projects. Technical teams do not fall under the same management as the Dev teams, meaning there is constant chain of command issues and the project suffers for it. If you're at a satellite office, expect this to be a regular issue and for work to progress on your projects at the main office without your input or knowledge.
RES relies on hiring good people who will do more than what they're paid. They rely on those who go above and beyond to cover gaps in hiring, leadership, projects, and overall organizational shortcomings. They bleed those employees dry, (often on the carrot on a stick illusion of opportunity/advancement), while other employees are left unmonitored and unaccountable for their work. Ultimately, the promise of advancement doesn't mean much because decision making roles do not change and nearly all of these individuals are older white men from the UK. On-the-ground employees are the ones who pay the price when unsound decisions are made by these individuals.
RES specifically makes decisions and policies that put employees in compromising positions without protection or leverage. Example 1: Development employees expected to build relationships and make project promises in the field, but higher ups will make late-in-the-game decisions that counter act that work without consulting the Dev team or considering the local damage. RES will be unaffected, but your reputation will be compromised and maybe your integrity too. Example 2: ask about their project bonus policy. Do not be surprised if you get the runaround, even though they may have used project bonus monies as expected income for you in hiring negotiations. Look at the loopholes (all policies) and know RES will leverage those to protect themselves – these policies are covertly made and are not made to protect your interests. RES has gone through periods of layoffs every couple of years, specifically timed in the year. Hypothetically, management could force the sale of assets/projects and then lay off the Dev team and not pay out thousands in project bonuses. Do not expect to receive a full severance package.
