EchoStar reviews

3.1

44% would recommend to a friend

(565 total reviews)
avatar

Charlie Ergen

35% approve of CEO

43% positive business outlook

EchoStar has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 565 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The EchoStar employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Telecommunications industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

565 reviews
1.0
Mar 5, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some of the people you get to work with

Cons

Listen to those who have experienced this toxic culture and RUNNNNNN! 1. Beware of All Affiliates DISH Network, Boost Mobile, Echostar, and Hughes are all run by the same leadership. If you receive a call or offer from any of them—RUN! 2. No Decision-Making Power Every. Single. Decision. Must be approved by the founder. Nothing happens without going all the way to the top because leadership is not trusted to make decisions that impact the company. 3. Benefits? What Benefits? Think you're getting benefits? Think again. No bonuses. Medical insurance is so bad that paying out of pocket is a better option—yet they charge $200+ per month for a family plan. Salaried employees are treated like hourly workers. If you run out of PTO, you must log "unpaid time" to cover your absence, meaning your paycheck will be docked. No doctor’s note or excuse will help. 401(k) is a joke. They match contributions—but only up to $2,500. 4. Recognition? Laughable! If your ideas make the company money or improve efficiency, they will steal them and give you…wait for it…4 hours of time off. Not even a full day. Employee of the Month? You get a parking spot and 4 hours off. That’s their version of recognition. This company does not care about you. 5. Innovation? Obsolete. This company is at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to innovation. The fact that computers even exist here is shocking. They REFUSE to invest in tools that improve efficiency. Everything is about "saving money." They constantly cut positions, pile on responsibilities, and call it "being lean." Everything runs on Google Workspace. Need automation? Too bad—you’re using Google Sheets. Hopefully, you know how to code. Need PowerPoint? Hope you like Google Slides. Only corporate gets access to Microsoft products. You’ll have billions of spreadsheets, forms, and docs cluttering your Drive, with no way to organize them because new ones are constantly being created. 6. Daily Work Life Show them you can do five people’s jobs? They’ll fire four people and make you do it all—with no thanks. If you're salaried, expect to be in meetings 95% of your day—EVERY SINGLE DAY. They have no clue how to communicate effectively. Instead of using IMs or emails, they throw everyone into a call to brainstorm in real time. They are micromanagers who will schedule meetings to micromanage every process and task. Emails? HA. You will be added to at least 30 distribution lists and receive thousands of emails weekly. Expect to be reacting constantly because nothing is planned. Leadership refuses to listen to frontline employees. They believe they know everything and never step foot in stores, IHS offices, or warehouses. Even when given feedback, they ignore it and make decisions that always fail. 7. Culture: A Complete Fraud They push the ‘CPAW’ culture and ‘Echostar Way’ during interviews—but no one actually practices it. The CEO/Chairman NEVER visits sites unless it’s to pressure employees into buying their products. Micromanagement and zero freedom of speech are the norms. Leaders are forced to "own the message" even when they fought against decisions. Employees live in fear of Charlie Ergen (Chairman). Employee engagement is a joke. No one is happy. The employee survey? Mandatory. They claim it's anonymous, but managers try to figure out who said what. Retaliation is huge. Some managers will quote something they don’t like in your survey and use it against you if they think you said it. Some will even ask "were you the one that said..." this is what makes people afraid to speak up. Favoritism runs rampant, and people constantly fear losing their jobs. They don’t question why good people are leaving. Instead, they hide behind their motto: “DISH isn't for everybody.” It’s their go-to excuse, a cop-out to avoid addressing the real issues. Instead of investigating why talented employees are walking out the door, they brush it off and move on, refusing to acknowledge the toxic culture driving people away. 8. BOOST Mobile: A SCAM!!! If you've seen Boost Mobile's big push on LinkedIn and in ads, here's the truth: It’s all for the Q1 earnings report. Employees are being FORCED to subscribe to Boost Mobile. Charlie Ergen wants 100% of employees switched over by March 31, 2025, to fudge the numbers. If you don’t switch, it will impact your performance review—or worse, your job. They are bullying, intimidating, and pressuring employees to switch. Employees are taken off the floor for one-on-one intimidation meetings about why they haven’t switched yet. People are literally buying random phones just to keep their jobs. They keep pushing, “We’re #1 in New York City!” (which I doubt) but what about the other 19,501 cities where service is absolute garbage?? Some employees who switched have zero bars at home. 9. Training? Nonexistent. After 40+ years in business, you’d think they would have a structured training plan. They don’t. You’re hired and expected to learn 150,000 acronyms and processes in 90 days—or you’ll be put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). Training materials are generic, outdated, and redundant. If you're not an extremely fast learner with insane attention to detail and a dolphin-level memory, you will fail. I read the reviews and said, ugh these are just disgruntled employees, I'll be able to perform. After a few month with this company I ate my words. Im currently looking for another job, until then dont end up where I am!!

avatar
EchoStar Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your perspective. We genuinely appreciate your feedback and acknowledge your concerns regarding our work culture and the BOOST Mobile enrollment process. Please be assured that enrollment in BOOST Mobile is completely voluntary. While we encourage participation to support our business objectives, it is never intended to diminish your autonomy. At EchoStar, we are dedicated to creating an environment where every employee feels respected and supported. Your insights are vital in helping us identify areas for improvement and drive positive change within the organization. Although we understand that this response may not alter your past experiences, we sincerely value your honesty and the opportunity to learn from your feedback. If you would like to discuss your concerns further, we invite you to reach out to our People Operations team at peopleoperations@dish.com. Thank you again for your input as we continuously work to enhance the employee experience.
1.0
Feb 28, 2025

Absolutely Disgusted

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people - but that's not new.

Cons

I have never been so disgusted with a company. No back bone. A billionaire, one of, if not THE richest man in Colorado is forcing his employees to buy Boost. Even if we don’t want to buy Boost. If we have actual, legitimate reasons to not buy this service, (part of a family plan, huge device fee paybacks, happy with your current service…it doesn’t matter), we are FORCED…I’m actually not kidding…to buy Boost. Whether it’s for our actual phone or a burner phone, they don’t care. It’s to check a box. I hope $15/month phone payment was worth the amount you have torpedoed any goodwill you have built up with your employee base. The undertone? You may be let go if you don't... Today, when employees walked into work, they were “booed” if they weren’t wearing orange and cheered on if they were. It’s too outlandish to be true, and yet, I can’t even make this kind of thing up. The orange clothing, the turnstiles, the badging in…maybe this really is a prison. Literally, I’ve had senior managers refer to employees as “gen pop.” I have spent several years here, and this review is a culmination of 4 years of Dish/Echostar experience. I’ve endured all team meetings where Charlie has accused people who want to work at home as "psychopaths living in their parents’ basements.” I’ve lived through this company forcing interns AND their managers work 50 hours a week (managers with no extra pay), and verbally flogged via email if you were even 30 minutes short of that goal. There is too much focus to have people on site for 42.5 hours, because of course, you have to factor in lunch. Forget it if you badge in after 9. Two of those and you’re written up. We are not people at this company, we are merely pawns that work for Charlie and a means to his millions. Oh, not to mention my identity has been stolen as a result of their cybersecurity attack. Diversity is a joke. After the Comcast FCC investigation, Dish has completely wiped every trace of DEI from public-facing content. Just check it. You won’t find it. ERGs are next. Women leadership is nearly non-existent. Maternity benefits are driven by Colorado’s state laws and are the bare minimum of what they can give you. Every time my kid is sick, I have to ask with my tail between my legs if I could possibly work from home. It’s not even my manager’s fault. They are expected to “own the message.” You may think…I’m not a manager - this won’t affect me. Charlie’s ridiculously fragile ego and antiquated employee expectations can’t reach me. He can. He does. It doesn’t matter the level. Dish is a sinking ship. Everyone at the company knows it, and they discuss it openly…often. Boost is not performing, hence their reasoning to force employees to sign up “or else” for an early year boost of activations. There are so many better options for companies that actually care. I can guarantee this review will receive a canned response detailing how my points are “concerning” and they’re happy to take this up with me over email or reach out to my HRBP if I have concerns. And literally, that’s where this conversation ends. But my hope is that you, prospective candidate, do your homework of this company. Pick the other option. If enough of you make that decision, maybe leadership will get the message. But then again…it’s Charlie Ergen. So I doubt it.

avatar
EchoStar Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your concerns regarding the BOOST Mobile enrollment process and other aspects of your experience. Please note that enrollment in BOOST Mobile is entirely voluntary and is designed to support our business goals while offering additional benefits to our team. We take your feedback seriously as we continuously work to enhance our communication and ensure our programs align with our commitment to respect and inclusivity. We understand that this response may not change your experiences, but we truly appreciate your honesty. Your feedback is valuable as we work to enhance the employee experience at EchoStar. If you'd like to discuss further, we encourage you to reach out to our People Operations team at peopleoperations@dish.com.
1.0
Aug 25, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. Challenging work in consumer electronics design as well as within the Hughes acquisition for advanced spacecraft design and operation. 2. A lot of good employee camaraderie. 3. Opportunities provided for paid internships (for qualified college students) which provide real work for students in advanced applications. 4. The CEO actually really cares about the employees in addition to the business objectives but allows some of the other executives to mismanage their areas of responsibility.

Cons

1. Management prefers motivation by intimidation and tactics bordering on hostile workplace methods. 2. Work schedule and performance demands are generated from unrealistic schedule criteria. 3. Benefits are minimal and rewards are reserved for only the top management. 4. They fail to recognize the value of geographically distributed operations and instead favor the simplicity of keeping the important projects in the headquarters in Denver.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 565 Reviews

Glassdoor has 621 EchoStar reviews submitted anonymously by EchoStar employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if EchoStar is right for you.