Helix reviews

3.8

68% would recommend to a friend

(118 total reviews)
avatar

James Lu

86% approve of CEO

65% positive business outlook

Helix has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 118 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Helix employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

118 reviews
5.0
Jul 7, 2016

great place to work with an amazing mission

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great place to work if you are interested in a mission-driven start-up that has a real chance of changing the world! Amazingly smart people to learn from and strong leadership. Great funding and stability.

Cons

Just like any other start-up, there's a ton of work to do with never enough time. However, everyone's rowing in the same direction and working as a team.

5.0
Apr 29, 2016

Exciting place to be

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Helix is great. We are on the cutting edge of consumer genomics and have an opportunity to shape this market. The culture created by the leaders is great: if you like working with incredibly smart people at a cool company with a bright future, Helix is the place for you.

Cons

Moving to San Carlos will make the days long, but, in my opinion, worth it to be able to work at Helix.

1.0
Nov 2, 2024

Sucks

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The industry the company is in has potential.

Cons

After a decade, many basic processes are still not standardized. Simple tasks that should be easy elsewhere take unnecessary effort here. Mid-level managers form cliques, handling conflicts by forcing the more reasonable side to back down. Double standards are everywhere. People who don’t do the work tend to oppress those who do. Managers have a shallow understanding of both the work and people, resorting to bullying those who are kind while avoiding confrontations with the strong or rude. There's a constant manpower shortage, and higher-level issues are often dumped on lower-level employees, but salaries and promotions don’t reflect this. Meetings are mostly for show—employees are only allowed to ask trivial questions or praise each other. If you bring up real issues, they’ll either ask you to fix them yourself or tell you to stay quiet. Layoffs have been frequent over the past year, mostly targeting decent employees who won’t cause trouble or those who dare to speak up. The company is rigidly hierarchical, both in title and race. Middle managers give speeches as if they’re important figures, which is laughable. The quality of employees has dropped, and management is full of holes. Issues in old negative Glassdoor reviews remain unresolved to this day. The tolerance for toxic employees and the chaotic management have left good employees discouraged—they either find excuses to leave or simply cut down their productivity. As one one-star review said, this company needs a complete overhaul, not just minor tweaks.

Viewing 67 - 69 of 118 Reviews

Glassdoor has 153 Helix reviews submitted anonymously by Helix employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Helix is right for you.