Benchling

ICs at Benchling are truly wonderful people and are by far the best part about working at Benchling. People tend to be very kind and intelligent.

Decent opportunities for career growth (especially early career) since tenured engineers are continuing to leave.

There seems to be this misconception that the engineering org at Benchling has been largely unaffected by the toxic culture described in non-engineering organizations. However, this is not true. Engineering has been under extreme crunch mode for quarters now, with people often taking on the work of two to four people. Benchling has a pattern of over-promising features to customers that aren't on the roadmap and that we do not have resources for, and this has not stopped, thereby contributing to the current crunch. As a result, people are burned out beyond belief, and there is no sign of this getting better in the next year or so.

Management is often not held accountable for their mistakes, and they often scapegoat ICs so that they instead take the blame. This can take the form of throwing folks under the bus or misrepresenting progress in performance reviews. Many of the issues currently arising in the company are ones that ICs have been extremely vocal about in their concerns, but unfortunately, senior leadership is often not open to hearing feedback until it is too late. In the moment, people are often told that "this is the way it is" and to leave if they don't like it. This ultimately puts the company at a disadvantage because this feedback could have helped them do better or potentially avoid some of these mistakes.

Put less weight on reviews circa 2021. These were before the company culture took a huge hit as a result of rushed hiring processes that prioritized IQ over both EQ and IQ. The small company vibe that attracted so many of us is truly not there anymore, and while there are nice pockets of culture, the overall culture is tanking badly.

Join if you don't care about culture. Avoid if you do.

Do better. Take exit interview responses seriously, because that is the most honest feedback you will ever get. Everyone else is afraid (and rightfully so) of retribution.