Lack of supervisor fit; - Anonymous employee Mathematica Employee Review

2.0
Nov 1, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There's work from home flexibility and there's a lot of good folks who individually are trying to do good work and treat people well

Cons

The company is torn between loving policies and rules and if you have support from the right folks in the right way, always getting the positive side applied to you and if not, the negative. When you are informed of something unfortunate, it's always "that's the policy" or "leadership decided" with no process to ask questions or seek an appeal, but eventually you learn that it's the same series of folks meeting one-on-one and make the decision behind closed doors because the truth about why they made the decision might make you feel bad. There's an inability to call a problem a problem unless you already have a prepackaged pre-approved solution in hand so that no one has to face the discomfort of uncertainty. If you have a good supervisor who is able to help you get staffed on projects that interest you, with staff you like, on work that challenges you, it's easier to ignore the forced-smiles and the "don't ask too many uncomfortable questions" attitude. But once you end up with a manager who is a bad fit, the unwillingness to have uncomfortable conversations made me (and several staff before me) feel like there's nothing to do other than leave.

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
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All