Pros
BUT Bandwidth is a wonderful place. Bandwidth has gotten a lot of not so great attention from the press recently and I think it's important to highlight some of the positives and, while no company is perfect, there are a lot of great things going on here.
Support, growth opportunities, stretch assignments, and education and training are plentiful and encouraged. Leaders across the org are super supportive and I hear a lot of "What do you want to do? How can we get you there?" from leaders and mentors. Lots of encouragement to explore other areas of the business and to create and/or accept "stretch assignments" on other teams if you have relevant experience or an interest.
Bandwidth employs some of THE best people that I've ever worked with - ever (and I've worked for 2 major Raleigh-based tech companies). Folks are eager to help when needed, to brainstorm new ideas, and offer guidance when needed.
We have LOADS of fun and creative events (our corp events team is the best in the business) for Bandmates + their families/partners/etc: themed movie nights catered by local vendors (lotta support for businesses close to our offices), family game night with snacks, drinks, and loads of goodies. Painting nights (think Wine and Design) where art work is donated to local hospitals. The very best annual awards show I've ever seen - truly thoughtful awards and recipients are nominated by their peers and leaders. It's very special.
Hoookay, the elephant in the room: Return to Office. We're still a very flexible company even though we've been asked to return. Some folks seemed surprised by the slightly abrupt message from David Morken but they really should not have been as a return to the office was always in the plan - I'll admit that many of us that did expect a return to office plan were a tick surprised by the timing as we thought the "RTO" would come at the onset of our move to the new campus.
My team, and adjacent teams, are super tight and we actually enjoy being the office so, for many of us, this shift is not massive but I can appreciate that some people have committments out side of work that will make being in the office more challenging. Important to remember, though, that the flexibility is still here.
We are growing a lot and have some lofty goals for the 2023 so, obviously, there are challenges that come with that but from my perspective the challenges that we're facing aren't unique to Bandwidth; rather, consistent with a growing organization.
Cons
The full time return to office is not ideal (as noted above) BUT I still observe, and have heard, that the flexible nature of Bandwidth is not in question.
