A Company that Steals from Itself - Anonymous employee GreatSchools Employee Review

1.0
Sep 3, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great if you are a parent needing a flexible schedule. Engineers, specifically, are treated respectfully, and have great managers and mentorship. Relaxed, airy, bright work environment, with a ping pong table and snacks in a large breakroom. Good place to get started if you want to work and learn engineering at the same time.

Cons

Apologies for the formatting. Glassdoor isn't great at recognizing spacing. [Note to UX Design] Insidious work environment made up of greedy, nepotistic VPs and Directors who get paid exorbitantly while undercutting the salaries of entry-level employees by 40 percent of those employees’ market value. They take all-expense-paid ski trips, then tell employees that the company can't afford to pay them market rate because the company is non-profit. The company basically exists to funnel money into the pockets of 10 people in power. The core values and mission are fine (even if they don't make a lot of logical sense sometimes), but certainly aren't followed by the people leading the organization. You might not see a worse place that masquerades as a caring company while harming its employees. As a nonprofit, it's worse than a bottom-line-driven company, because at least the bottom-line companies are transparent about how they operate. Here are the company Core Values: HIGH EXPECTATIONS FUEL SUCCESS There may be high expectations, but there is little support from management or HR, so most of the time it’s a burden, not a motivator. NOTHING BEATS INFORMED INTUITION This may as well say “We use whatever data furthers our revenue agenda.” TRANSPARENCY BUILDS TRUST Yes, it does! But there is little to no transparency at this organization, internally or externally. Everything is a secret, and many employees operate in fear of reprisal for speaking up. DREAMS KINDLE DISCOVERIES “We at GreatSchools understand that we all need time for play, contemplation and cultivating personal interests.” Yes! Except there are few professional development opportunities, and the culture of the office itself is limp and lacks cohesiveness, and is permeated by the irresponsibility of those that wield the power. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Except we aren’t. If you’ve read this far, you can see why. These VPs will create new positions and hire from within only to fire those people a month later, and assimilate the job into their own. The whole company revolves around how much power can be grabbed from those without much to spare. Additionally, there is micromanagement abound, with control-freak bosses who are never around, communicate poorly, and who then wonder why the company community suffers. When management is confronted, there is a lot of business-babble that makes no sense and dodges the questioning. This is a tech company, first and foremost, and the people in charge, aside from the excellent tech team leaders, refuse to let it develop that way because it means the currently-useless VPs will lose power to smarter, more organized, more compassionate people. The above should be enough to steer anyone away, but on top of it all the benefits are poor compared to comparable organizations, contractors are actually paid LESS than full-timers (the reverse is usually the norm), and unless you are an engineer there is zero dedicated professional development (even then it isn't great). This is a place that tries to keep its employees from leaving, by blocking professional development opportunities and destroying community from within, and when the employees are finally fed up, they get replaced with idealistic young people who don't realize the political environment they are entering. The VPs and C-levels will step on your neck to keep power, and the archaic values of the basically defunct (and part-time) HR department won't protect employees from that (nor the borderline sexual harassment of the top brass, which is a whole other discussion).

Explore other reviews about GreatSchools

5.0
Oct 5, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great coworkers, many fun events/parties, a great place to meet amazing hard working people. Lots of growth opportunities and chances to develop professionally

Cons

Lots of data to load so definitely goes through busy times especially before large projects

1.0
May 19, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The mission of supporting families and students in making informed education decisions is deeply important and draws in passionate, capable employees. Teams across departments include committed individuals who are genuinely invested in impact and innovation.

Cons

Leadership lacks the qualifications, cohesion, and emotional intelligence needed to steer the organization through its current stage of growth. This gap is evident in top-down communication, inconsistent decision-making, and the absence of clear accountability. Strategic direction is frequently unclear or reactive, driven by interpersonal dynamics more than organizational needs. Team members often feel confused or sidelined, rather than empowered. The culture has become risk-averse and mistrustful. Employees are often reluctant to offer dissenting viewpoints or new ideas due to fear of marginalization or backlash. Middle management has little authority, and decisions are concentrated within a small inner circle. This reinforces silos and obstructs cross-functional collaboration. Morale is low, and turnover has increased especially among high performing team members who felt they couldn’t grow or contribute meaningfully under current leadership conditions.

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