Pros
- Interesting and impactful projects - Healthy work-life balance - Bright and collaborative colleagues - Strong emphasis on software quality and best practices
Kontras
Kitware was unable to weather even a brief "funding winter" without resorting to poorly handled layoffs: - The news of layoffs is delivered by the CEO and HR director, not your team lead or manager. The whole process feels impersonal and bureaucratic, as though names were pulled from a spreadsheet. Proper communication should have come from your direct manager or lead. - Employees are given only two weeks' notice, and if you're on an H1B visa, good luck avoiding deportation after being laid off. While I’m not on an H1B, I find this deeply concerning for those affected. - The CEO gaslights by misleadingly claiming in a company-wide email that "performance" was a factor in deciding who to lay off, which clearly wasn’t the case when you look at the list. Many of the staff members affected were experienced and valuable, but likely deemed too expensive. - They don’t initially disclose who else was laid off, leaving people to figure it out on their own, which felt isolating and unfair. Eventually, they had to announce the names a week later, proving how poorly thought out the whole process was.