Started great, ended poorly - Anonymous employee BenchSci Employee Review

2.0
23 Jun 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

So many employees are smart, determined, and dedicated. I felt truly connected to my team despite remote work. Compensation was good, as were the perks.

Cons

So much restructuring in every department, layoffs left, right, and center. They lay off in small batches so the media doesn't catch it as a bad story. They pride themselves on no layoffs, but they are hiding the truth. Constant drama in every department due to re-orgs and layoffs. Psychological safety was non-existent. Most people come to work every day scared they are going to be told they are fired. Pay increases at review time in 2023 - even for top performers- were very small. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for how they restructure and play around with departments and people's roles. Truly feels like no one has any idea what they are doing from an organizational design perspective. Even though they have experts trained in that such thing. The funny thing is this is all primarily in 2023. In 2022, we were hiring like mad, and we blew so much money on ridiculous things. It felt like every minute we received gifts and special prizes, packages, and a huge whirlwind offsite for everyone. Then when 2023 hit, the layoffs really sprung into action. Budget cuts everywhere. Clearly not great with managing or budgeting money. And finally, I did not feel valued, nor were my skills taken seriously by Senior management. I left of my own accord and moved on to much better things. I would strongly caution anyone looking to join this company to keep in mind that they will not have much clarity or stability. They see it as a virtue if you stay in it. If you decide to leave they say that you weren't strong or resilient enough to stand the pressure of a start-up and you were not equipped to deal with ambiguity. However, we leave because we see how terribly managed it is and how little regard they have for people's well-being.

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BenchSci Response
2y
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to leave this review. We really appreciate hearing your feedback and having the opportunity to take action where we can. We were glad to hear that in your experience working with BenchSci, you felt a strong connection to the rest of your team, even in a remote-first working environment. This is such an important part of the sense of belonging we aim to foster, and we're glad to know that this was a positive part of your experience. Thanks for sharing. In regards to your feedback around changes to teams and structure across BenchSci, we appreciate you bringing this to light, as this is certainly not the intended impression we want to leave. While transparency is one of our values, when it comes to employees leaving the organization, this can be a challenge as we have a duty to protect the privacy of our team members and cannot always disclose the level of context that may be desired. Employment can end for a wide variety of reasons and we understand that not having a complete picture of these reasons (whether voluntary or involuntary) can sometimes cause us to wonder what may have happened or make our own assumptions. We are sorry to hear you did not feel properly valued in your position. That goes against our philosophy for how we lead our teams at BenchSci, as we believe in investing in our individuals and supporting them to grow and feel impactful in their role. If you have further context to share on this, please feel free to reach out as we would love to better understand how we can learn from it.

Explore other reviews about BenchSci

5.0
28 Feb 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

The "ends" do NOT justify the "means" at BenchSci. Collegiality and Teamwork trump short-term results. BenchSci technology is a paradigm shift in uncovering reagents; AI/ML scans the literature to present the essence of a publication for your review (and there's more to come).

Cons

BenchSci is 100% remote. My colleagues are so interesting that I would like to see more of them in person.

4
1.0
10 Mar 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote work. Went to the office twice

Cons

- leadership sucks here. Not one leader would be at a leadership role in another company of decent reputation - the surviving leaders here are good at politics or they are the oldest ones remaining who are friends with the CEO. They have their own agenda and try to just play the game to get their seat at the table. They would not succeed anywhere else in the real world - there is zero pay parity. Some get such high pays and others are just blind to it. When employees talk, that is when there is a realization of the gap in pay. -they care only about employees who suck up to them and stroke their ego - their product is not the best in the business and they promote it to be something of a unicorn - company bleeds out people who are talented and now they are desperate as no one new wants to join the company - they do nothing to maintain the culture of the company - it’s the most toxic out there

18
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BenchSci Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your feedback, and for highlighting our remote work options. We appreciate you taking the time to provide your perspective. We are focused on building a strong, effective leadership team and recognize that this is an area of continued improvement and are actively investing in leadership development. We strive to foster a culture of collaboration, respect, and high performance across all levels. We recognize that our culture is a constant work in progress and are committed to acting on feedback to ensure a positive and inclusive environment for all employees. We also want to acknowledge the concerns raised about pay parity and want to share our approach. We conduct annual pay equity analyses, which include a detailed review of internal parity across teams and a focused assessment of potential disparities for underrepresented groups. In addition, we conduct annual market analysis to ensure our compensation remains competitive. Building on this foundation, we have been working to build a transparent and market-aligned compensation framework, ensuring clarity around job levels, benchmarking salaries, and aligning performance reviews with compensation decisions. This is an ongoing effort, and we remain committed to delivering a system that is fair, sustainable, and consistent with our values. We are dedicated to continuous improvement and appreciate the candid feedback that helps us on this journey.
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