Reviews by job title

7 reviews
2.0
18 Oct 2017

A turn for the worse

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company has trust in developers to get things done. As a small consulting shop, each developer is essentially platform lead on a project. So even if you are right out of school you will have the opportunity to be lead on a project, to learn and make mistakes.

Cons

The company is struggling financially and culturally. In the last 5 months, 40% of the engineering team has quit. This year the company cut health insurance benefits for everyone. They also dropped from 6% 401k matching to 4%. New hires are being given used (sometimes broken) MacBooks. The company is nickel​ and dime-ing every purchase. The culture of the company has also changed. The management implemented several initiatives to promote learning, sharing and open communication. However it isn't getting through to the employees. It is very hard to learn from the experience of anyone else in the company. There is very little knowledge sharing or mentoring. Each developer is siloed on their own project. People are left to review and merge their own code. The main focus is just getting work done as quickly as possible, without regard to quality or project health. Communication with clients is also failing. Some project leads are openly hostile with their clients.... who probably won't stay clients for long. Because everyone is working on their own project, management is unaware of how each project is progressing. Some projects are moving dreadfully slow with lots of problems, while others are moving very quickly with very few problems. To management they all look the same and all receive the same (lack of) attention.

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Stable Kernel Response
8y
We are very intentional about asking for feedback, so it's upsetting that we haven't heard these concerns voiced internally. It takes all of our voices and efforts to grow this company, and we suspect that the person who wrote this has since left s|k. Nonetheless, we've taken this feedback to heart and would like to respond to it and clear up some factual inaccuracies. * s|k is in no way struggling financially or culturally. In fact, we're proud to be #532 of Inc's Fastest Growing Companies in America, we're adding to our roster of clients and colleagues all the time, and our employee engagement score has been consistently in the top 10% of Officevibe's Benchmarking Scale (we use officevibe to anonymously survey our employees at least once a week to make sure we're aware of how we're doing). * While employees certainly choose to move on (and some have been asked to), our retention rate is far superior to the average in our industry. We are thrilled to regularly celebrate 2nd, 3rd and even 4th anniversaries within our four-year-old company. At no time have 40% of our developers quit. * We provide industry and small-business leading healthcare benefits to our employees, even at a time of great upset in the insurance industry (in fact, we subsidize 99.9% of the excellent medical, vision and dental insurance of our workers). We also contribute generously to their family plans. * There hasn't been any change in our 401K match. We continue to match at the 6% level. * We offer a stocked kitchen, an incredible location on the BeltLine, new equipment, standing desks, field trips, special events, generous perks, and more. We use our money wisely for the good of the company and those who work for it. * We have never knowingly provided anyone with a damaged computer. Most new hires receive a new computer on their first day. * Learning & Sharing are part of our core values as a company: we expect everyone to learn and share every day. Additionally, we have structured lunch and learns at least twice a month, unlimited 1:1 mentoring/coaching, constant healthy debates and collaboration, we cover the cost of an annual conference for each employee every year, and more. * While some of our projects have required only one engineer, such arrangements aren't the norm. Most engineers work on a project team with a project lead, other developers, a designer, and a project manager. * Our existing project management team and our project leaders ensure that our clients are engaged and satisfied. The management team keeps close tabs on project success and continues to add tools to our arsenal that allow us to monitor the health of every project. In fact, most of our clients have come back to us for additional work and have referred us to others. If you're reading this review and are interested in learning more about working with us, please reach out and get to know us for yourself.
5.0
6 Mar 2018

Great Place to Grow

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Employee Development Program is really good - Great culture of learning and sharing - Can work from home whenever - Excellent work life balance

Cons

- Clients can be frustrating

5.0
25 Apr 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great colleagues, nice benefits, management that listens. Many opportunities to develop your career down whatever path you find most interesting. Also, one of the only places I've ever worked where I like everyone I work with — they care a lot about maintaining a healthy and positive culture at work. Respectful of work/life balance, OT is rare.

Cons

Client projects haven't always the most fulfilling, but we're getting better and better work all the time.

5.0
20 Nov 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1) Every day is a great day with the SK family. I spend many late evenings going out with them and consider each and every person I work with as a personal friend. 2) When someone is not a team player, action is taken to help align them with our expectations. Generous amounts of advice is given and people take an interest in helping employees grow. 3) Culture is important. Stable Kernel takes this seriously. Diversity education, acting classes, movie nights, happy hours, healthy food in the fridge, yoga classes, wellness education all play key parts in maintaining a culture which strives above all else to show genuine interest in your growth as a person. 4) Work life balance is a real thing. I was chided for many months about taking a vacation. SK does not want to burn out software developers and they manage the stress very well. 5) Individual responsibility and personal integrity are stressed and they reward it by allowing you to lead large projects for big name clients which are exciting and rewarding. Each project brings something interesting to the table and learning and sharing how you manage it provides wonderful incentives for growth. 6) Conference budget!! You are encouraged as an employee to seek out places and events where you feel you can learn. This is not some flim-flam statement. My first year I was told I needed to go to a conference, so I went on a cruise and learned about wed development. They take professional development seriously and encourage you to find avenues to learn and network within the industry. Speaking of speaking, if you speak at a conference, it does not count as your conference, but rather just as your job. You will be encouraged to find a new level of confidence and find skills that you never knew you had.

Cons

Sometimes finding a path forward in your career is left as an exercise to the employee.

5.0
11 Nov 2025

Amazing

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Team culture fair salary positive vibe remote

Cons

I can't see any cons

5.0
20 Mar 2017

A solid place to learn and grow with great people

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The owners have a clear vision for what the company does and they're invested in making it a great place for employees and clients (interesting projects, collaboration, good communication, focus on company culture). Lots of opportunities for professional growth. Flexible work environment makes it easy to do your job and have a life.

Cons

Can't always predict next steps in career but I think this is more about being small and wanting to see how employees grow instead of having a set course defined.

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Glassdoor has 26 Stable Kernel reviews submitted anonymously by Stable Kernel employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Stable Kernel is right for you.