Honest Take - Anonymous employee BenchSci Employee Review

1.0
Apr 2, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Despite chaotic leadership, interesting and meaningful work does happen. entirely due to a handful of extraordinary PMs, Eng Managers, designers, and researchers. They’ve carried products and execution on their backs.

Cons

Compensation is below industry average for AI/ML roles. Leadership makes impulsive and often irrational decisions, including frequent, failed org changes (roughly every two months in 2024). Accountability is scarce at the top; ICs are held to arbitrary goals while executives face little consequence. The environment is highly political. High performers are often seen as threats by insecure leaders, leading to subtle gaslighting, veiled hostility, and emotional exhaustion. Some Directors, VPs, and Cs prioritize managing up over real leadership—creating a culture of blame, manipulation, and psychological warfare. Merit is routinely overshadowed by appearances and favoritism. Nepotism is pervasive, undermining genuine talent. Many in leadership roles are ill-equipped to lead but excel at optics. This has led to widespread dysfunction and morale collapse. Cultural signs of change are emerging heading into 2025—but it’s unclear if they’re real or sustainable.

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BenchSci Response
1y
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. We really appreciate you calling out the meaningful work happening here at BenchSci and the awesome contributions of our Product Managers, Engineers, Designers, and Researchers. At the same time, we're genuinely sorry to hear that your overall experience hasn't been what we want it to be for our team. We take that to heart. You’re spot on about compensation being super important, and we want to continue to be competitive. That's why we work with a third-party consultant to conduct an annual market analysis. We want to make sure our pay is competitive with similar roles in the market. We also acknowledge your concerns about our leadership and organizational changes. We get that it can be tough when things feel unstable, or decisions seem to come out of left field. This is an area where our senior leaders are currently making improvements. One recent change is they host weekly meetings with our Directors to ensure they understand how and why decisions are being made. We're really focused on building a strong leadership team and creating a workplace where everyone feels supported, respected, and has room to grow. It's a work in progress, and we're committed to getting better. We also want to address the concerns about the work environment. We're striving for a culture of open communication, where everyone feels valued, and where decisions are made transparently. We really value your feedback—it helps us see where we need to focus our efforts. Please keep sharing your thoughts, either directly with your manager or a Talent Business Partner or anonymously through our feedback channels. We believe that open and honest conversations are key to building the best possible workplace.

Explore other reviews about BenchSci

5.0
Feb 28, 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
Mar 10, 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

17
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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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