RUN ... don't walk ... AWAY from Opower / Oracle!!!
Pros
BEFORE ACQUISITION (January 2016): Opower was thriving (or so we were led to believe). We had great products in place, new ideas on the horizon, and talented, motivated, and passionate individuals who truly believed in the environmental and social mission of Opower. My colleagues and peers were some of the smartest individuals I have ever worked with. And you felt like you were working towards something - saving energy, changing human behavior, etc. The culture and environment created by the Oployees was contagious and it was a happy place to be. And of course the perks (NOT to be confused with culture): dogs in the office, free snacks, catered Friday lunches, massages, unlimited PTO, commuter + gym benefits.
Cons
I can sum it up shortly with a quote from one of my favorite movies, Mean Girls, when Regina George tells Gretchen Weiners: "Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen." Dan, Oracle is never going to "happen" for the talented, dedicated, and passionate team your people built. JANUARY - MARCH 2016 Our stock price takes a nose dive, the earnings call is horrendous. And things start to change. Maybe in hindsight I should've seen the sale coming, but the passion and enthusiasm from the CEO never waned and so like cattle, we got in line and believed the BS coming out of his mouth. APRIL 2016 Layoffs happen at the beginning of April. We dump over $1million in salaries/benefits/etc. Still, we are told not to panic. It needed to happen. Delivery teams were overstaffed, engineering projects had come to close and it was time to deliver. Everything was still supposedly great. Our CEO even actively went out of his way to assure certain teams there jobs were safe. The heart, soul, and culture of the company were hanging on by a thread. MAY 2016 - AUGUST 2016 Oracle buys Opower. Everything Opower stands for is crushed by a behemoth of a company that has no plans to continue our environmental mission. Google Oracle. See how many multi-million and billion dollar lawsuits they are a part of. CEO STILL convinced things will operate as usual, despite a complete change in culture, benefits, structure (550 employees to 130,000). Heart, soul, culture = destroyed. Morale is worse than in the toilet. There is none. People either come into work late and leave early, don't come in at all, or spend their days looking for new jobs and interviewing. People aren't even secretive about their desire to leave the company. Individuals on the G&A team are told they won't have jobs. But, over and over again, like a broken record, by both the CEO and CFO tell us our short term contracts will a) match our current salaries and b) have lucrative retention bonuses to "make it worth our while to stay." It's promised to some. Both of these things ended up being a complete and utter lie. And so now most of the G&A staff is stuck in non-incentivized contracts at a longer term than originally guaranteed. PRESENT: If you join "Opower" aka Oracle these are things you will NOT get: clarity. A+ level colleagues (think B-). Top of the line / current technology and systems (goodbye fast and nimble systems we would constantly invest in, hello systems from 2000). Bureaucracy. Oh my Bureaucracy. People are leaving in droves - all the smart, talented, passionate people I previously described are gone or on their way out. If you are smart, passionate, and looking for a fun, mission-oriented company, this is no longer the place for you.
