Bandwidth has great potential but it is constrained by leadership
Pros
- Bandwidth is very health focused and offers fantastic health care benefits including extra vacation days and longer lunches for working out - Work life balance has generally been better at Bandwidth than some of my previous employers - Very family focused - Bandwidth hires amazing people who I count as life long friends - Bandwidth is a fantastic launch platform for anyone who's recently graduated and looking to get that first job under their belt while seeking a better opportunity/compensation
Cons
- Amazing people does not imply talented or competent people - Inexperienced architects and software managers have led to years of tech debt accumulation that negatively impacts customer experience and there is currently no leadership at the company capable of undoing the damage - Senior Leaders are extremely product focused. Products are frequently marked as "done" before the development teams have even tested the new products in order to focus on the next niche product that has been contracted without any capacity planning - Expect frequent priority shifts that will result in your current priority getting canceled near the time of delivery - Company benefits are "family focused". If you are single, LGBTQIA, or if your family is already established; you will want to focus on salary as the vast majority of the benefits will not apply to your situation and feedback to the contrary is ignored - Technical salaries at Bandwidth are not competitive. Several Bandwidth friends have left the company for other companies within miles of Bandwidth for $20-30k more per year with equivalent or greater benefits - 70% of yearly compensation adjustments within the company will be at or below inflation. To be in the top 30% you will need to ensure you befriend a VP/Director who can assign you to a high profile project which has a chance at being "Core Plus" or "Transformative" to obtain greater than inflationary compensation adjustments. - Bandwidth's leadership decisions are primarily driven by "gut feelings" and "emotions" rather than data. While this strategy worked before Bandwidth went public it does not seem to be scaling with the company's expected growth after going public - Covid-19 had a massive impact to the world economy. Rather than focus on how Bandwidth could leverage its own products to benefit its customers to work better remotely, the CEO spent the entire year focusing on getting his employees back in the office. During a global pandemic. With zero masking or vaccine requirements. The Bandwidth CEO recently doubled down on this assertion by stating in a company meeting that anyone with a dissenting safety "opinion" about returning to the office with no mask or vaccine requirements should seek employment at other companies. I presume most people would find this to be a con. If you view individual freedom as a company benefit, I guess this could be a benefit to you. I would recommend that you keep in mind that your freedom is still subject to CEO approval and your employment is subject to termination at any point for any reason without regard to your service time or history with the company - I encourage any current or future employee to measure Bandwidth's "values" against its actions as they frequently do not align.
