Pros
PTO is fairly good, and I've never had an issue getting days off. Lots of intelligent people if you know where to look. A ton of potential because of the cross-section of talent. My paycheck has never been late.
Cons
You simply cannot understand how dysfunctional this company is until you work here. I'll try my best to limit my list to ten items, but it could easily be more. 1) Employee appreciation is near zero. Most have not received raises or bonuses in years, yet the company is still under an indefinite salary freeze. If you get a title change, expect it to be a "dry promotion" with no extra money. For new employees, you will likely never get another dollar more in your entire career at New Era than the number on your offer sheet the day you were hired. You might even get less. 2) Benefits are really poor. 401(k) is the worst I have seen at a company of this size--15% of contributions (not salary). As such, the absolute most New Era will contribute in 2024 is less than $3,500/year, and that requires you to contribute $23,000/year to your 401(k), so good luck with that. No company contribution to your HSA. Employee pays 100% of the cost of STD and LTD. 3) New Era has grown by acquisition and not organically. They barely integrate these companies, so there are warring factions all over the company with hilariously inept collaboration between them. Go read the Glassdoor reviews for Fusion Alliance if you want to see a before/after picture when New Era acquires a company. 4) Many in senior management did not gain their positions by aptitude; they gained them because they were employees at the first few companies to be acquired. A number of these individuals would not even be qualified to be frontline managers at most other firms. They were in the right place at the right time even though they have no business being there (especially HR), and the rest of the company suffers for it. 5) C-suite is 100% disconnected from the boots on the ground, yet no one below them seemingly has any budgetary authority. Nearly every decision to spend more money gets escalated to them and usually rejected. In the many years I have worked for this company, I have never once heard the CEO speak to share his vision for the company. Probably because there is none or they have no idea how to execute it. 6) The company itself is shrouded in secrecy. I found out from a random Internet article that we were on the auction block to be sold. When confronted, senior management told us not to tell other employees and to keep it hush-hush, even though this was one of the first Google results when you searched for "New Era Technology." Pointed questions about our financial situation are largely ignored. 7) New Era will straight lie to you about compensation. After they "restructured" salaries, they told us to expect profit sharing to make up the difference. Spoiler! No profit sharing ever happened. Certain employees were promised bonuses, and they tried to claw those back after they were earned. 8) When layoffs happen, the decisions are made by corporate and a spreadsheet. Middle management (the people who actually know which employees do what jobs) are frequently not consulted. This results in total chaos when the wrong people are let go, and the remaining employees are beyond overworked. 9) Professional development is nil. Most training expenses like certifications or travel to professional conferences will likely be denied. No structured programs exist to reimburse for continuing education. Any meaningful development will be on your own time and at your own expense. 10) Employee morale is just horrible. I mean AWFUL. Nearly everyone I know is looking to get out of this company before they shut the doors or fire more people. The C-suite refuses to authorize backfill for many FTEs, so the company is constantly restructured around fewer and fewer employees with predictably disastrous results. This has resulted in a max exodus of top talent all the way through the senior management ranks that continues to this day. I beg you--do not come work for this company. You will certainly regret it, and your time would be better spent on bettering yourself at another company. Because it is not going to happen here. The era of cheap money is over, and New Era is running on fumes without a financial lifeline in sight. Company credit cards are constantly declined, and you are kidding yourself if you think paychecks are not next. This company doesn't have much time left. Don't be here to witness it.
