Unfortunately the pros are only a small portion compared to the cons. The reality is that most engineers here in Irvine are working on the legacy grails code, that has been around for more then ten years or so, and honestly it is quite demotivating after six months you spend your life on it.
The Dallas team is mainly the one working on the IoT technologies. They have been working on it for about four years I believe. It is not nearly close to completion and most of our requirements have to piggy back on their work causing long turn around time for features implementation. The stack that was chosen fours years ago is arguably still a cutting-edge stack and, its complexity, is growing exponentially. By the time it will become effectively the new platform it will be obsoleted and it will, most likely be, the new legacy that we will have to maintain here in Irvine. That’s the pattern we have seen with other pieces of software in the platform side. That’s the extent that most of us are working on IoT.
Another scenario, that I have seen several times, is the engagement with consulting firms to build interesting projects. These consultants come in for a couple of months, build something quickly and then we are left to fill the gaps and fix bugs that are found when it hits production. The outcome is that, we are now liable for something we had very little control on.
All mobile development is done in India, as well as the new frontend development with React. Instead of bringing new interesting work here in Irvine, projects that requires creativity and working with exciting technologies, are commissioned to the offshore team in India. It seems that the company is more focused in expanding the offshore team to reduce engineering costs rather then investing in US talent.
Promotions are politically driven rather then being by merit or, at times, an act of desperation when people start to leave in mass. Perhaps proactively working with people by setting them up for success and promoting them when they achieve tangible goals, would go long way?
Bonuses payout are very different from what it’s advertised. During my time here I have seen as little as 25% and as high as 50% of what has been promised.
As a result of these factors I see colleagues in the software development group leaving within two years or less.
I guess for me, the most frustrating part, is that our CEO keeps asking the reasons of the high turnover, and as much as we have told him in several occasions, nothing is done to change it. The truth of the matter is that the team in Irvine is equally talented and, if it was given a fair opportunity, things would be very different.
