Rapid7

On some teams the workload is light - often just 1–2 hours of actual engineering per day if you pick the right project. Lot of people have a secret second job / work on their own project or just enjoy life!

No engineer voice in planning Deadlines, weekend sprints and roadmaps get set in week-long workshops with zero engineering input - then engineers have to work long hours/weekends to deliver them.

Under-invested in tech

• Budget constraints mean you won’t see top-tier talent; the existing codebase is fragile, and any tech debt allocation is literally off the table because managers don’t value it.
• Annual salary bumps are minimal, and there’s effectively no ongoing equity refresh to reward tenured contributors.

Toxic conflict culture Leadership often lacks both technical and people credibility—issues get dismissed or offloaded to engineers, with no real conflict-resolution techniques applied.

Politics over merit High‐visibility roles go to the well-connected, not the highest performers. Promotion feels arbitrary.

Micromanagement + lack of ownership Engineers have zero autonomy—especially at quarter ends, when arbitrary deadlines override good judgement.

High turnover, low morale Walk through any kitchen or hallway and you’ll hear the same story: good people burned out, bad people promoted, and teams scrambling to stay afloat.

It will be a very hard road to get better, but if you won't start it, this ship will likely sink. All the reasons here are directly tied to the poor company's financial performance. You rise and fall with the quality of your people. Saving here is a bad idea.

Reboot leadership – Hire or promote leaders with both deep engineering chops and proven people-management skills. – Replace or retrain existing managers who can’t facilitate conflict or earn their teams’ trust.

Embed engineers in every decision – Make senior engineers full partners in roadmap, budgeting and staffing discussions. – Disband “planning workshops” that exclude technical input.

Recommit to technical excellence – Allocate a dedicated tech-debt budget and enforce its use each quarter. – Fund competitive hires and ongoing equity refreshes to retain top performers.

Flatten the hierarchy – Eliminate unnecessary management layers that dilute accountability. – Give squads end-to-end ownership of features, timelines and quality.

Institute transparent meritocracy – Publish clear performance metrics and promotion criteria. – Tie compensation, bonuses and equity directly to measurable impact.