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Good company, not good location

Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at SAP for 20 years
November 13, 2013
La Crosse, Wisconsin
1.0
Doesn't RecommendPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

Good pay, good perks like a catered lunch. Unfortunately, there isn't much else to say here, but the review requires 20 words.

Cons

The work environment is the worst I have ever worked in, especially if you are a female. The senior manager is sexist and bullies female employees until they leave. Work/life balance is nonexistent. (I was once written up for falling behind because I took bereavement leave for an immediate family member's passing. Apparently, I was expected to have taken my laptop to the funeral and worked.)

Teamwork is discouraged. (I was reprimanded multiple times for trying to work with my team. "Just write whatever you think is correct and give it to the next person. You don't need to ask them what they need." (Or there was the manager who said "You need to quit doing what's best for the team and do what's best for you.").

And backstabbing is expected. (I actually had a manager, after unsuccessfully trying to get me to rat on my team, tell me that he was surprised that I wouldn't say anything and that I was the only one he had talked to who had not "thrown someone under the bus". He had already talked to everyone else on the team.)

Complaining to HR does no good. We're too small of an office for them to care what goes on here. So you just have to suck it up and deal with it until you find a better job.

If you're a software engineer, there are no career opportunities due to the clog at the top with the senior manager. Even more senior managers know he's not qualified for more, so he doesn't get promoted. So no one does.

All of this results in the worst morale I have ever seen. Employees are walking around like zombies. There's no excitement for what you are working on.

Advice to Management

Management here is awful. The senior manager is unqualified for his position. So he demoted all the more qualified managers below him and filled the positions with even less qualified managers. It's bad when you have to surround yourself with morons in order to make yourself look good.

Due to all the mismanagement, the work environment is not good (as noted above). And it really shows in the project management and the productivity of the employees.

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