Not an organization you can stay for long - Program Analyst Mathematica Employee Review

3.0
Apr 15, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Evidence-based research; organization outputs interesting research; smart and friendly co-workers; output is vetted multiple times so high quality delivered to clients; great mission.

Cons

Work-life balance is horrible - you are expected to work beyond your work hours to complete the task (even though they tell you, you shouldn't). It's hard to take more than two days off for PTO since it takes more time looking for someone to cover you while you're out. Too much stress put into billable hours; the hours that you bill do not accurately reflect the actual hours you worked. Support for junior staff is limited since everyone is so swamped all the time, it's hard to ask someone for help. No support for actual career advancement - junior staff has limited knowledge about the project they work on and are often not included in most task meetings or given an opportunity to contribute to client deliverables. Limited opportunities to work on other projects, especially across different divisions within the organization.

Explore other reviews about Mathematica

5.0
Apr 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great colleagues, 401k match, and interesting work

Cons

Work life balance could be improved and more ability to move between departments

3.0
Jun 29, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Smart people, impactful work. A real community.

Cons

Poor strategic planning. Rather than performing real analysis and proactive thinking, leadership reacts to the environment. Strategy development and implementation at Mathematica seems like leadership throws wet spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. In the 2010s, it was predictive modeling. Rather than proactively using predictive modeling to support their client's goals and the organization's mission, they created a data analytics division, hired smart people, and provided no guidance to support the division. Today, AI has replaced predictive modeling. These examples provide two instances of failures of corporate leadership; many more exist. Unfortunately, the company suffers from short-term incentives and an aversion to long-term investments. As an employee-owned company, you would think that the board and leadership would be more responsive to the employees. No! Over time, they have removed employees' voices from decision-making and focused on increasing their own power and independence.

7
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