software engineer

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Direct Supply

Engineering at Direct Supply has recently has turned into a "feature-factory-motivated" endless workday that is driving the top talent to look at other opportunities.  Leadership believes that no one will leave the company and has acted accordingly with how they treat their engineers.

It has not been uncommon to come into work early, be asked to stay late, and sign back online for a release when you get home.  A 12-hour day has started to become the norm with no additional compensation or benefit to the engineers themselves.

Every one in a while leadership tries to show appreciation, but appreciation only goes far when they continue to push us to extremes.  Direct management doesn't care or doesn't have the power to push back on unrealistic expectations set by upper management.  

Upper management at one point this past year asked everyone to do an engagement survey (potentially since they knew morale was low) and then completely disregarded the results and increased the workload on their engineering teams under the guise of their yearly event.

Instead of changing their business practices, leadership doubled down and blamed the engineers for their performance and opted to just reorganize structure rather than look at their business practices.  The latest change publicly took senior engineers and replaced them with business people in an effort to drive more work and increase quality.  However, the quality and output that the engineering teams can create is continuing to fall and leadership refuses to admit they made a mistake.

There is little confidence from me or anyone I talk to in software engineering that anything will be done differently going forward.

I left Direct Supply many years ago but it was my longest tenured employer on my resume for almost a decade.  I have never found a company like it.  It’s true - salaries are below national average but the perks make up for it, and lots of overtime available.   We had all the free soda and popcorn we wanted and a really fun work atmosphere and what I miss the most was the “team” attitude.  Work hard / play hard,  We had a ping pong table we could use at that time when we needed a break.   A coworker and I would joke that it was like a cult - they encourage participating in after hours company functions — and there were a LOT of them.  Lots of food and the BEST cheesecake sent from their vendors around the holidays, you will gain at least 10 lbs in the first year.  We were never micromanaged as long as we worked hard.  We could put in as much overtime as we wanted, so if you are young and single it’s perfect.  The flip side to that is getting burned out and when you aren’t single anymore you tend to shift your priorities and I eventually left for more of a work life balance.  I had the best manager there and I also had the worst.  The good news is the bad managers are eventually weeded out.  I compare every company to Direct Supply and have never found a more fun (while still working hard) work culture with a team attitude in my life though I would like to!  I really enjoyed working for Direct Supply.  Don’t know how much it’s changed over the years but I was there when there were only 100 employees and still growing.  There was cultural diversity in my department and we had a LOT of fun working together.  

Direct Supply is an employee-owned company where employees really are treated like partners. This mentality originates from the Founder, CEO and President of Direct Supply, Bob Hillis. Bob leads by example. He genuinely cares about every partner and the senior living industry that we serve. The principles that Bob has set trickle down to every department within Direct Supply and have set the foundation for every aspect of my work. It is a huge motivator for me in sales. 

The caring culture carries through all levels within Direct Supply. Management has always been supportive and encouraging when it comes to career development. They make it clear that they want you to be truly happy and successful in your job at Direct Supply, whether that means developing and growing in your current role, or moving to other areas within the Business. 

Not only does Direct Supply care about me as an employee, but me as a person too. With things like the new Champion Wellness Center, options to work remote and taking tremendous steps to make sure our Campus is the safest it can be amidst COVID-19, they genuinely care about my well-being and safety. 


If you are looking for a place to call your work home for the rest of your professional career, look no further. Direct Supply boasts strong employee retention numbers because of the unique company culture and the company leadership's overall desire to see you improve. This is not a work environment where you simply "get through the day" or slack off. Direct Supply upholds high standards for its partner employees because they are ultimately its stakeholders, and what determines the success of the business and its impact in the senior living industry. If you are also looking for a workplace with a sense of strong purpose and identity, Direct Supply is an excellent choice. Our core principles are engrained within our everyday tasks and the energy within my team, specifically, is unmatched. I would recommend Direct Supply as an employer for any hard-working, driven individual who is looking to progress in their career and ultimately contribute to a bigger picture. 

I am a Senior Operations Specialist at Direct Supply, and a member of the Building Services Operations Team. I work with our customers and service providers to coordinate a wide variety of services at senior living communities. Since starting at Direct Supply, I have learned how important the work we do is to improving the standard of living for the seniors we serve. Over the last three years my responsibilities have continued to change as our business has grown, and as I was promoted from an Operations Specialist, to Operations Specialist II, to Senior Operations Specialist. I have enjoyed the employee ownership culture, collaborative work environment, and challenging opportunities that continue to push me. A day in the life a Direct Supply includes collaborating across many parts of the business, working with customers, interfacing with technology, and possibly even making it over to the Wellness Center (gym) or Joule Cafe. Direct Supply is a great company if you are looking for a place to call home and have a rewarding career. 

If you are a young white male, this is the place for you...unlimited opportunity, a true voice in the company, etc.  If you are a female or a person of color, you will be much happier somewhere else.  They will tell you that you have a voice and that you are a partner, but that is not the day to day reality.

You are paid below market as they tell you that you will be an owner.  That is a great benefit...trust me, until you have to put down a second mortgage on your house to exercise shares.  If you don't exercise shares, you are viewed as not committed and put on some blacklist.

The biggest negative is that they tell you how to vote so if you aren't a hardcore republican, stay away.  They even have yard signs for you to put on your lawn for the "right" candidates.

When I started there I thought it was all about being free to be who you are, but at the end of the day, you are only free to be who you are if you are a young, white, male republican.

Direct Supply is an amazing company to work for with a great work life balance. There is a ton of flexibility and focus on just getting your work done and not a lot of micromanagement. At Direct Supply, networking is encouraged and the ability to forge your own unique career path is available. Salary to start may be a little low depending on the role, but the opportunity for advancement, mentorship opportunties, and total compensation make up for that and much more. Direct Supply is an employee owned company with a great culture, long tenured employees and plenty of opportunity. They have a very entreprenueral culture that is focused on innovation and problem solving for their customers. The management team is great and has a focus on the future growth of the company and it's employees.

The good: Employee owned. You do receive stock and get a payout once a year. The pay was pretty good and the overall culture was very fun. Quarterly meetings with catered dinner. Free fitness center on campus. Beautiful campus. Every building has a kitchen with a fridge (or 2 ) stocked full of free beverages, a coffee machine (that makes fancy coffee) popcorn and pretzels. Dog friendly campus! 

The bad: location is horrible! Right in the middle of a rough neighborhood and right across from a trash site (got many nails and screws in my tires going to/from work. 

Leadership is very persnickety about “perception”. If you’re perceived as young and naive they will never take you seriously. Any complaint you may receive (could be about anything) HR will do an internal investigation. If you’re not very well liked at the company and they can’t get any “dirt” on you during the investigation they will still let you go and chalk it up as “integrity concerns”. 

Overall this is a great company to work for, they care for their partners and make sure that everyone is fulfilled in their role and has areas to advance within the company. Overall the salary is lower than market average in many positions, but the benefits (401K, flexible work schedule, healthcare, casual dress code, perks, etc) help to offset this. The paid time off is also very generous even from day one.  There's lots of opportunity to grow within the company, and you're able to take your career path and development in to your own hands. Direct Supply's culture is unmatched (and I have worked at other large organizations in the Greater Milwaukee area). They could improve at compensation and advancement for their highest performing partners. 

It is so rewarding to work for a company that is committed to taking care of their partners (Company is employee-owned so employees are considered partners).  Each person is valued and apprciated for their contributions which inspires you to continue to work hard.  That happens not only from leadership, but partner to partner.
I can truly say that there is no other company that I've worked for that embodies 'delivering outrageous customer service' more than Direct Supply.  Our mission and priority of taking care of Seniors is evident in every action we take.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 4 salaries reported	$90,541 per year
Account manager 4 salaries reported	$68,750 per year
Senior software engineer 7 salaries reported	$103,714 per year
Operations associate 3 salaries reported	$54,667 per year
Staff software engineer 5 salaries reported	$134,000 per year

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