Pros
Good benefits Employer-funded HSA Bowling on Fridays Small company so none of the bureaucratic crap of the bigger companies; still a lot of room to get involved and make an impact
Cons
So, so, SO poorly mismanaged. From what I gather, a large part of the management here are people who were pushed out from other companies and wound up wherever someone would take them. That's Novavax. No one has a clear idea of what we're doing. We pursue projects and trials that we don't have money for. There's no clear linkage from corporate goals down to the department level, so goals mean nothing. Everyone wants to have their say and hear themselves talk but no one wants to make decisions. Meetings upon meetings upon meetings where not a single thing is accomplished. No follow through on anything. No collaboration. It's a mess. I have never seen a company with so much management. There are layers and layers of redundant, ineffective management. Even after November layoffs. Manufacturing let go over 50% of their on-the-floor staff, but kept their entire (much higher paid) management structure. There are now 3 director-level and 7 manager-level for 16 associate-level employees. There are several managers that have no direct reports. There are many instances of straight line reporting with only one direct report each (e.g. manager reports to sr. manager --> reports to assoc. director --> reports to director --> reports to sr. director --> reports to VP). I have never encountered a group of such petty, stubborn, uncooperative, tattling adults in my life. Groups constantly fight one another and people fight each other within their own group. Too many egos, turf wars and people playing power games. You can't trust anyone - especially not management. One minute they praise you and the next they throw you under the bus. Certain members of the management act inappropriately on a daily basis with no repercussions or change in behavior. During layoffs in Nov, there was a director-level employee legitimately laughing and giving high fives in the hallway as people walked out. There is a HUGE culture of favoritism and misogyny. People come from big companies, hire all their friends and only listen to/collaborate with their clique. People are denied fair shots at internal promotions because of favoritism. It's all about who you know and not what you know or how hard you work here. The favoritism starts at the Sr. VP level and perpetuates down. People are afraid to provide feedback on favored employees in management positions for fear of retaliation. Women are treated with disrespect and outright disregard, particularly by two director-level employees in Ops. Both have been reported to HR multiple times and are still employed with the company, continuing their behavior. Communication sucks. Very rare trickle down of info from directors to associates. Director-level employees keep info from people because they don't trust them. Groups don't communicate because they don't want anyone "taking their stuff." No one will address issues directly with a person; instead they talk crap about them or tattle to management without trying to resolve conflict first. We spend insane amounts of time and effort on ridiculous things - like seating charts. Yes, seating charts. There have been several director-level and VP-level employees stewing over a flipping seating chart for months now. How much money are we wasting on this?? We just laid off enough of the company everyone could have three desks. WHY is this the hot topic instead of our dwindling budget and astronomical attrition? When I interviewed at Novavax, they went on and on about how great their culture is, how wonderful it is to work here, etc., etc. All I've seen is a culture of mistrust, mismanagement and disrespect. Every day I struggle to stay motivated and willing to keep coming back.
