Epic Systems

Compensation is good.

Many smart and helpful coworkers.

Private offices are a plus (though many may soon be getting halved in size).

The horrifying tech stack you've been warned about is only partly true, and is getting better.

Management is not trained well, and managers are chosen by productivity and loyalty, so the quality of your boss is luck-of-the-draw.

Some of them are fantastic! I was lucky enough to have an outstanding TL for many years, and they were the primary reason I've stayed at the company so long. Many, however, are middling. And some are unbelievably bad. Getting out from under a bad TL is difficult, and a bad TL can irreparably stunt your career at this company.

The company itself often has good intentions, but once a decision is made, it is nearly impossible to question it. And upper management is not always the most reasonable or scrutable entity.

There is a case study in Epic's COVID-19 response: despite a steady climb in cases, the entire company is expected back on campus mid-September.

(And I suspect that, even after we are all back, we will still be holding most meetings remotely -- we'll just be "remote" from our solo offices. Not the most effective reason for thousands of people to commute when working from home has been effective so far!)

Our CEO has stated that this is because we are "losing big time" because our culture suffers when we work from home. This seems like a thin excuse, but it's the kind of decision that is unquestionable, handed down from the CEO herself; decrees like this are not rare at Epic.

Another case study can be found in the case Epic brought before the Supreme Court of the United States, which resulted in permanent damage to workers' rights across the nation (search Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis).

At the monthly all-hands meeting, the company's involvement was defended with the reasoning that, had we not brought the case, some other company would have. The answer to the question of why we needed to be involved at all, if the court's decision was so foregone, was left as an exercise to the listener.

Epic's motto includes "Do Good", but this is obeyed piecemeal and only when it suits us.