Stay away at all costs (unless on the brink of starvation) - Manager DISH Employee Review

1.0
Apr 24, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone loves TV, so there is that. But they cannot keep customers or good quality employees and managers. It is hard to think of any pros except the paycheck. Maybe a good job to start as a new college graduate, but with turnover so high, you will be hard-pressed to find talented managers and executives to learn from, only a very desperate, chaotic environment where you will be running around putting out fires.

Cons

Pretty much everything. They have no regard for hard work or their employees - it is a favor for you to work there. Everyone can be easily replaced - no respect for anyone except for the few sycophants who can really suck up. You will get no training opportunities outside the company - very little inside the company to progress in your career. To keep costs down, Charlie requires 20-33 1/3% of people be placed on performance improvement plan every year so that if he has to, he can fire people without actually downsizing them so that he doesn't have to pay unemployment benefits and higher unemployment insurance premiums. You can go years without a raise - they will just make up crap to justify why - search through your emails for any little reason. This is despite all the things you accomplished and attained that year. And if you are one of the unlucky ones who have some experience and were not hired out of college and make what they perceive to be too much - you will be targeted for your experience and your salary - even if what you are earning is below the market value. And with the high employee turnover, you will be doing your job and other jobs because it takes months to replace someone, because of all the executive approvals required for permission to backfill the positions, the lengthy advertising and interview process, as well as the standardized tests that are required (which take 3-4 hours to complete). Benefits are a joke - unless you have a catastrophic occurrence, God forbid, there is a $1,250 deductible you must pay until that runs out ($2,500 or more for a family) then they pay 80% and you pay 20% up to another level, which is pretty high. You are micromanaged within an inch of your life because you are not trusted as an employee or a professional, but as a child who needs constant supervision. The ironic thing with all this management, you will get very little mentorship or learn much because DISH definitely doesn't attract the best and they don't have that much talent; despite the economy and their cheap prices, they are also losing more customers than bringing on, and you can smell the desperation in the air as they scramble to do something, but since they don't have great management or leadership and can't attract it, they will continue to decline. There are badge reports your managers monitor to ensure that you did not come in a minute after 9:00 a.m. because that report will go directly to the VP of your department who must answer to HR. You must "punch in" using a fingerprint scanner at the turnstile when you enter and exit the building. If it snows, you are told to prepare for it by staying at a nearby hotel the night before because blizzards are no excuse to call in or work from home or even be late (Charlie waits by the door and takes names if come in after 9:00 a.m.- and if you use sick days for snow storms, (or even call in sick Mondays or Fridays) this is viewed as suspicious behavior and you will be warned for it if not fired.

Explore other reviews about DISH

5.0
Jul 15, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good team environment to work.

Cons

Work type was onsite 5 days.

avatar
DISH Response
11mo
We're thrilled to hear you enjoyed the team environment! We truly value collaboration and a supportive atmosphere. We understand that 5-day onsite work might not be ideal for everyone. We're always evaluating our work models to find the best balance for our teams and business needs. Thanks for your feedback!
3.0
May 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good middle management and compensation. Lots of opportunities to learn from plenty of smart people.

Cons

Disclaimer -This is all water cooler hearsay and opinion. During the two years I was there the bill came due on being penny wise and dollar dumb over the years. A great example is Sling. Dish beat basically everyone to market but Netflix with streaming and was the first platform to offer live TV via stream (which YouTube TV still uses as a selling point). What happened? Dish paid the original engineers to build it and then balked at paying them to document and maintain it. Same deal with the cyber security team. After years of expecting security engineers to do exceptional work shorthanded for middling compensation eventually they had none. It was all put on the security manager, who had a heart attack after repeatedly requesting support. He understandably did not return. Not much later one of the core systems was ransomed, and the company fell out of the fortune 500. Despite being in the middle of dealing with the consequences of those decisions leadership was doing it all again with the mobile network build out.

1
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DISH Response
1mo
Hearing that you found value in our middle management and compensation, as well as the chance to learn from the talented individuals on our teams, is encouraging. We appreciate you recognizing those aspects of your time with us. On the other hand, the historical context and concerns you shared regarding executive decision-making, infrastructure maintenance, and resource allocation are deeply concerning. Maintaining a stable, secure, and well-supported environment for our workforce is of the utmost importance, and we take feedback regarding employee well-being and operational decisions seriously. We are continually working to strengthen our operations and better support our teams across all business units. Because this review references a sensitive medical situation alongside organizational challenges, we would welcome the opportunity to hear more about your perspective. Please consider reaching out to our team directly at peopleoperations@dish.com so we can learn more.
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