Pros
Lower brought on a ton of people in 2020-21 with no experience required to ramp up for the market conditions. Great to have the option to work remote or hybrid. Met some wonderful people that I can now call friends even if we’re no longer co-workers.
Cons
I’m not sure why I’m writing this- the company will not be hiring for a very long time, if ever again. Truly believe we are seeing the last days of Lower. If anyone left is torn on the good they want to believe vs what the facts say, this is for you. When Lower accepted the $100M Series A funding in June 2021, it was the beginning of the end. Changes were made in bonus structures for both sales and ops (resulting in less pay and more work), constant changes made to policies and procedures (without proper testing), upper management would cause unnecessary tension between sales and ops by placing blame on the other departments. Promotions were taken away or not given after promising them- not because of doing anything wrong, but because for whatever reason the company needed to restructure. These “minor” inconveniences were somewhat easy to overlook by most when we were making tons of commission due to the market being so busy and management telling us that we’re just feeling “growing pains.” As things began to level out, people began questioning what happened to the $100M. Well, we know it went towards naming rights for a stadium, and maybe into an insane amount of White Claws given out to drown our sorrows at events, on Fridays, or just a random Tuesday afternoon. Micromanaging was happening on every level because no one (from the top down) actually had any leadership experience and was trying to keep their own manager from breathing down their neck. The first of many layoffs happened late 2021. While Better made news by firing 900 people via Zoom, Lower was doing the same thing on a smaller scale (at once). Every 6 weeks a new group was laid off. Those who were left were stuck taking on extra work, were assured they were safe, and told that layoffs were due to performance. I personally have seen evidence of employees receiving recognition for outstanding performance and then being let go the next week. 90% of the reviews here mention the frat feeling, which is 100% accurate. Also, if you party with the core group, you’re safe no matter how much you suck at your job. For a little while anyway. With each cut it all became more and more obvious. I saw several situations where management tried to make it look like an employee’s performance wasn’t up to par, when in fact it was fabricated. Seems like this was done as an attempt to avoid having to pay unemployment once they were let go. Or to avoid a lawsuit perhaps? At this point, there are so few people left in the company. Sales is divided into two groups and it seems as if management is trying to cause division between the groups. Both groups are being treated very poorly and one can only hope they all see through it. Very few leads and very few people left in Ops. The few crappy loans they will get will take forever to close in a market where it should take less than 30 days. People who were let go in ops are being asked to come back because of how many people have now willingly left on top of the layoffs. There is conflict within top management. I don’t think I need to go on about how ugly it is now. I feel bad for the few good people left and know (hope) they are scrambling to find new job. For those who for some reason are unable to see clearly through the fog, open your eyes and realize that it’s time to worry about yourself. No one else will. The layoffs are NOT because of current conditions. Plenty of mortgage lenders are surviving in these conditions. While they may not be expanding, they are not laying off 1,000+ or taking away base salaries. The business was/is not managed effectively. Wrong choices were made and continue to be made. The grass is absolutely greener on the other side, go get it.
