Profitable, Growing Firm with Great Customers - Senior Engineer Gray Matter Systems Employee Review

The people of this company are very friendly. When I met people in the office, they were often cheerful and nice to be around. The management was thoughtful and kind as well. My manager and connections exceled at trying to give me things to work on and new things to learn as an intern, at least when they weren't overbooked and extremely busy. They apologized for that if their schedule became that busy. I learned a lot about a niche area of Electrical Engineering thanks to that style of learning.

I am a person who likes in-person jobs, so the hybrid environment was a bit of a con for me. The office rarely had more than a dozen people outside of rare conferences, and it was often even less. Most days of the week were spent remote, and if I had to go into the office outside of the scheduled in person day, there was often nobody there. This problem has become enough that they downsized the office I was in after the end of my internship. Most work that Gray Matter Systems does can be done remotely at home or occasionally at a job site, especially post-COVID. This environment is great for some people, especially in a work-life balance, but for my energetic and extroverted attitude as a student intern, it was my only con for the company.

No pros only cons from day 1

I would strongly advise candidates to think carefully before joining this company. The hiring process did not clearly explain the actual day-to-day responsibilities of the role. After joining, I was assigned to projects that were never discussed during interviews and were outside my listed experience and skillset. Even after being transparent about my background, I was expected to quickly learn completely new technologies and deliver results within a very short timeframe. In many cases, production-level success was expected within a month, which is unrealistic for any professional. Despite putting in full effort, documenting progress, and sharing work logs regularly, I was suddenly terminated without prior warning, no performance improvement plan (PIP), no coaching, and no meaningful notice. Other concerns: * “Remote” roles often require sudden onsite work, sometimes weekly or biweekly * Limited training and onboarding support * Poor communication from management * Unclear expectations and lack of direction * Budget instability leading to sudden layoffs I have over 10 years of IT experience and hold certifications such as CCNP, CCNA, FCP, and FCSS, yet experience and effort did not seem valued. Additional note: For certain client projects (such as the Indiana River contract), there was a lack of guidance, minimal context provided, and limited access (even basic access like badges), making it difficult to perform effectively. Instead of support, employees were often redirected without clear answers. Advice to candidates: Have a backup plan and think carefully before leaving a stable role for this company. There appears to be a pattern of hiring quickly and letting employees go without notice, often due to budget constraints. Final takeaway: Think twice before joining.