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False advertisement, disorganization, toxic leadership, questionable labor practices, parking.

Despite the promise that REACH is an avenue for people without a CS degree to become software engineers, apprentices are stuck in the program until they meet the equivalence of a CS degree (2 years of technical work for 1 year of education) since LinkedIn applies H1B rules across the whole company.

This means for an apprentice without a college degree, it would take 8 years to be considered for a software engineering role when the program only lasts for a maximum of 5 years.

That the program is only open to US citizens or permanent residents means it essentially amounts to an H1B program for Americans.

Meanwhile, the apprentices are paid below market wages doing the work of an IC1 or IC2. Often placed on short-staffed teams, apprentices sometimes work over 8 hours a day in order to keep up with the salaried employees.

Filing for overtime is discouraged, and meeting job expectations is not enough to move up.

Although REACH is advertised as a software engineering apprenticeship, some apprentices have had trouble accessing coding opportunities and have actually seen their coding skills regress.

Management's response to these serious concerns: "You're welcome to look elsewhere," "We need to give people who bag groceries at the supermarket a chance, too," "This program is new. You're the guinea pigs."

The program has been around for over 2.5 years, yet many apprentices and alumni alike have struggled.

I doubt many in the REACH leadership would allow their own careers to be irresponsibly experimented with.

Consider this a public service announcement.

The snazzy PR and media coverage of the program concern me. Potential applicants need to know what they may be stepping into.