National Instruments reviews

- First of all, NI is a marketing / self-promoting / recruiting....MACHINE. They know exactly what to say, how to say it, and to whom to say it to when they want to win you over. We can't completely fault NI for being this way; it's partly due to the corporate culture we all live in. However, NI knows how to turn this up to 11 when needed. - NI is desperately trying to become a "performance-based" work environment. Management openly references a slide deck from a very popular internet flix streaming company that praises a performance-based culture. Unfortunately, NI management fails to also see in the same slide deck that this company also pays its employees very well. Hmmm....two sides of the same coin? Could performance be closely tied to compensation? NI doesn't think so. They pass this minor technicality off with a slight-of-hand gesture as if to say..."These are not the metrics we are looking for" -- The consensus-based culture might have worked well 15 or 20 years ago when the company and their product offering was much smaller. Now, it just stifles productivity, creative / unique thought, and individual accountability and responsibility. If you are a creative thinker, NI is not for you. -- As mentioned above, NI pays slightly-below average in spite of being known as the "Cadillac" of hardware and software in the industry. Their gross profit per employee is among the lowest among their competitors. Until they start generating A LOT more revenue and/or start laying-off the poorest performers, salaries (and bonuses) will continue to be average at best. -- There's a well-known formula upper management uses when determining how much of a bonus should be payed out when it posts a profit. This is great...we all love openness and transparency when if comes to these things. On the flip side, how they determine how much of a dividend should be paid to stockholders is a well guarded secret. Smells fishy. - HR and middle management have been forced to start giving "stay interviews" to immediate reports. Company's shouldn't have to be doing this. And if they are....there is something terribly wrong. Again, NI fails to see the significance of this.

Nothing too significant, but some areas that could use work: - It's no secret that most talented NI employees could probably make more elsewhere, and I'm sure that's responsible for the loss of some valuable talent. That said, I don't think I'm paid unfairly and have been fortunate to receive fairly regular raises, though I realize this isn't everyone's experience. There's a range of salaries for any given promotion level, and where you fall on that has a lot to do with your performance and perceived value to management (some of which is in your control, some of which isn't). - Vacation is a bit disappointing. I have friends at other tech companies that earn quite a bit more vacation and paternity leave, some of whom get additional month-long furloughs after certain career milestones (which would be amazing). This is mitigated somewhat by NI's flexible policy on working from home. - Medical premiums have risen steadily, though I realize that's not exactly management's fault.