Worst place I've ever worked (and I've been in some bad ones)
Pros
The old mill buildings provide a homey atmosphere, and there are some very talented people who work there. DEKA is cash-rich so there is a lot of
Cons
Dean Kamen: Egotistical. Narcissist. These are the words that come to mind. The hallway to his office is lined with pictures and articles - not about the company - but glorifying him. One painting depicts him as Leonardo da Vinci. And no person with a shred of modesty would permit the "December Thing", a project where employees volunteer their time to craft what can only be described as a technological offering to him. (Marriages have broken apart because of employees' devotion to this tribute.) Process: The product development process is antiquated. No company worth their salt ignores producibility these days, yet DEKA's products are so thorny to produce their cost is vastly inflated unnecessarily. Ethics: DEKA's business model centers around billable hours. Activity is churned and decisions made not for the best product launched the fastest, but to bilk the customer for more hours. Additionally, the near-mandatory casual OT gives yet more billable hours to the company the employees essentially donating their time for Dean Kamen's profit. Culture: Venomous. Managers behave like feudal overlords, exercising their power to force people to work more and more hours. People are chewed out in front of their peers, which is as unprofessional as it gets. And new employees are given an anvil and tossed into the deep end of their work with no onboarding process whatsoever. Compensation: Substandard. Even with NH's lower cost of living and tax advantages, DEKA pays on the low side, clearly thinking that the prestige of working there will put food on your table.
