Pros
The most important takeaway: Tandem Diabetes Care used to be a proud patient-first company. From basic designs to regulatory assessments, we worked meticulously to ensure our patients received the safest and best performing products we could release. The mentorship and career growth opportunities were world class. If you were serious about a goal, your manager and team would guide you to making it happen. This led to a lot of people earning promotions they otherwise wouldn't have dreamed of and excelling in those new roles. Prior to the first wave of layoffs in 2023, a large number of managers and directors were internally promoted. These managers and directors reinforced a positive and inclusive culture while driving Tandem to a decade-high share price. The employees were all very friendly and welcoming, which contributed to an amazing working environment. Despite the salaries being closer to the median, the equity compensation was phenomenal.
Cons
New leadership hired in FY '21-'22 were brought in to help the company grow to a larger scale. Tandem is a medical device company, but this new leadership cohort primarily ran the department like a software company. They couldn't even do that right, and instead of accountability, they laid off hardworking (including longtime) employees in multiple waves. Rather than focusing on what made us successful, leadership caved to investor pressure, and that in turn worsened our company performance. They transformed Tandem from a patient-first company to an investor-first company and we all paid the price. Equity (in the form of stock) is no longer offered to employees.