software engineer

senior software engineer

help desk analyst

engineer

full stack developer

Hexagon

First off, this company has a terrible workforce culture that is directly caused from poor management. There has been an ongoing theme of laying off analysts and engineers because of the lack on contract work, instead of laying off upper management whose salaries are double or higher than what said analysts and engineers make. With that in mind, two years ago the company underbid a major contract with the federal government by several million dollars in order to win a contract. Therefore, in order to make up for the small workforce due to their constant lay offs, they decided to hire in temporary employees through a recruiting agency and then told them that they would hire a few of those employees based on their work performance (mistake number one). Said agency then proceeded to hire in people who had little to no experience, and people with degrees that had absolutely nothing to do with the work we were to perform. They then told the company employees, like myself, to train the new temporary employees brought in by a recruiting agency. So, they brought in two of us company employees to train and manage the temps, which was about thirty people. They gave us no managerial training, no outline of deadlines, no information as to what we were supposed to be doing. Later, management then told the temps that only twelve would be hired on to work as company employees. Soon after, the temporary employees started backstabbing one another, getting jealous when one temp would get more responsibility than others, start lying to management to get ahead on the “cutting block.” When two of the temps were to be let go due to their poor work performance and poor attitude, they went to HR and said the other employee who was managing them with me was having an affair with one of the temps in order to save their jobs, which was not true in any way, and everyone in the company knew these two temps had caused problems for months. So, the HR representative “disciplined” said company employee and pushed him into a corner in order to avoid a lawsuit. He was going through a divorce at the time, HR knew about it, but they did not help him nor did they investigate the allegation, even at his request. They only interviewed the two women who created the lie. The employee was later fired because he gave up on the company and stopped caring due to problems at home and work. After that, the place continued to go downhill, and the temps and employees like myself were soon let go in order for the company to save money. None of the management was let go, and the HR representative still works there today, never being held responsible for what happened to us. This company does not have their employees’ best interest at heart, and they will throw their experienced analysts and engineers under the bus to save a dollar, only to replace them with temporaries who they can pay cheaply. Corporate management is located in D.C., so their care or concern for the employees in Huntsville is non existent. They will occasionally throw a pizza party as an “employee appreciation” for the public appearance that they care. Everyone sees right through it. At the end, those parties became so tense with trust within the company that there was little to no talk between the employees. If you have a GIS degree, please save yourself and do not make your way here. 

I was a contract employee through Express Employment, and was told I would be hired on within a 5 to 6 month period. I worked for 6 months with constant promise of being hired and receiving a "cost of living raise" to no avail. Starting out, you're told you'll be working 12 hour days, 4 days a week. This wasn't as much of a problem as the materials you're required to be around for an extended period of time. Exposure to these chemicals (Acetone, epoxy resin mixed with catalyst, paint thinner), and materials (carbon fiber) can be taxing on your health. Even as a person who wore all required protective gear daily (PPE gloves, respirator, apron, protective sleeves, pants) still suffered respiratory issues, eye inflammation, dermatitis, and heat rash. 

Since this company is contract to hire, there's an air of disposability in your employment. The turnover rate is so high, that with showing more competence in your area you're often stuck with several absent employees workload. Hard work is often overlooked, and seemingly ignored. Adding insult to injury, the working day supervisor at the time had even been known to fabricate stories about lower staff. Yelling matches would erupt between employees, and the HR department would turn a blind eye to those with seniority. 

Overall, this place is an OSHA nightmare waiting to happen as a result of incompetent management, and lackadaisical training. I can honestly say as a person who has worked in a few factories, I walked away from this place with a bitter taste and possibly even some irreparable health damage. I say this with full intention of protecting contract employees, and hope this company can turn their management around.

I have worked customer service jobs with more organization and direction than this company. Working weekends is not only normalized but expected. There is little to no opportunity for growth within the company, and little to no opportunity to learn new skills. Myself and other coworkers were ignored when trying to make efforts to learn new skills because the company is so inefficient with such a huge backlog of work that they don't bother to take the time. They don't keep up with the industry-standard software and often waste weeks of time on tasks that could be automated with code if they bothered to hire just one good software engineer. The work is monotonous, the pay is not consistent with the industry standard, and the office is dark and musty. And forget about any sense of job security! Management will fire a contractor every Friday like clockwork, often for seemingly trivial reasons, like making a mistake on their first attempt at a task. Salaried employees within the company like to spend their days complaining, whining, and throwing tantrums like toddlers over the tiniest inconvenience. But no worries, they'll throw a pizza party once a quarter, because that totally makes people less anxious about the instability of their jobs, right? This company capitalizes on the naivety of new college grads trying to find a job in uncertain economic times, just so they can overwork and underpay them. I wouldn't recommend this company to my worst enemy.

Salaries are super low compared to other companies in the state who perform the same type of work. Hexagon's insurance package is also expensive relative to those low salaries. The 401k seems decent until you find out that they deduct quarterly fees for participating in the program. (They're probably kickbacks that Hexagon is getting) Low or no raises. The management will create a hostile work environment by calling a few employees into their office, give them a small raise, and then tell them that the company didnt make much money this past year and that the small amount was all that they could afford. They will also tell them not to tell any one else but naturally people become curious as to why only a few people got called into a manager's office and word gets out. The rest of the department then gets upset and starts to care about the quality of work a little less each day. The layoffs are a constant problem with Hexagon US . Employees who have been there for 10 years or more are automatically on the radar for the next round of layoffs so that management can lower the labor costs going into the next contract bid. If and when they win the bid then they'll hire cheap, right out of college graduates to replace the veteran employees that they just laid off. That's just they way they do business and it hasnt changed in the last 5 years.

Typical days were 8 hours, roughly 8am-4pm. Due to the nature of the project there might be the odd early morning or late night but they come infrequently. The work/life balance was good overall. 

There was a revolving door of employees, in my time there were 11 others come and gone, barely maintaining a crew of 4 or 5 at any given point.

It was nice to have a company truck provided, and gas paid. Some tools were provided but it could have been more. Touching on a point below, we were expected to lie about having certain tools that we didn't. Some expenses were reimbursed as well. 

Management was poor on this project, somehow simultaneously micromanaging and offering minimal support. Trust was nonexistent. Management would argue about everything you said or did, even if it's what they trained you to do.

There was a large amount of dishonesty and an expectation that you'd lie to cover management's shortcomings, even when they threw you under the bus for their mistakes. 

To give management some credit where it's due, they were very knowledgeable and probably could answer anything you asked. The problem was just getting those answers. They did teach a lot at first but it dried up quickly.

Advancement was lacking, at least on this particular project. Maybe others offer more chances.

I've worked here for a couple of decades so I've seen a lot of change. Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence seems like it is trying to remake itself into a modern, cloud based, technology company which is a good thing but have not yet been able to change the corporate culture. They say they their employees are one of their most important assets but they continue to make policy changes that send a different (contrary) message. Opportunities for growth and advancement within the company are very limited, especially in software development. The people at Hexagon have been great to work with and there are new initiatives coming in that could prove exciting. Pay is average and benefits are decent. Benefits do seem to be decreasing over time. The company is trying to do more with less people so while there is flexibility in personal schedule and a new "unlimited" time off policy, most people feel like there is no time to take time off. You could work 24 hrs/day and still not get all your work done.

What is the best part of working at the company?
In-house cafeteria. Modern facilities.  Nice fitness center.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor management and dysfunctional leadership.  Very bad ageism within the Huntsville office.  The CEO is constantly presenting in quarterly meetings how he want to increase the workforce to those under 30 years of age.  Once you hit your upper 40’s (and older) they start making your life extremely difficult in an attempt to force you out.  Not a lot of room for advancement.  Leadership is extremely lacking.  Lay offs are very seasonal.  Usually around October,  the company starts with layoffs and then again around December.  Very unreliable organization.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very hectic and extreme micromanagement.  You will regularly work 10 plus hour days with no compensation.  Even when you are on vacation, you will get calls to work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Meetings, meetings, and more meetings.  In a 10 hour day you will spend at least six hours in a meeting of some type, and then have the expectation you get your work done with what time you have left and work on the weekends to catch up.

work day: I worked in Engineering, a typical day was hybrid, flexible work time start. 
Check e-mail/calendar, get to work, writing, researching info, taking pictures. Attend meetings in person or via Teams. 
Learned: Often learn something new while working with co-workers or during breaks.
Management: my boss was good at working with each type of individual. The majority of managers I dealt with were extremely good organizing and talking with people.
Workplace culture: Friendly, supportive, encouraging.
Hardest part of the job, getting some people to share information or why something couldn't be included in documents.
Enjoyable part of job: learning new things, learning programs or equipment, also talking to co-workers and learning about them or their job/work. I love learning!!!



I think it boiled down to me not being a good fit for the position.  I will admit I had a problem with the behavior of one of the developers.  It felt like he was always yelling at me.  He needed to bring the volume down a little.  I can hear just fine.

The other developer did not speak English natively.  It was a struggle to understand him sometimes.

The only thing that upset me was on my last day, as I was being escorted out of the building (not sure why, maybe it is policy) my manager, casually dropped a bombshell on me, accusing me of lying on my resume.  I was floored.  I asked him what he was talking about, and he did not answer me.  That really upset me.  I never did get an answer why he thought I had lied.  Sometimes people say really foolish things when they are upset or nervous.  I can only assume that he didn't really think this through before saying it.

To be fair, I did lack experience in XAML.  But I never lied about it on my resume or during the interview.  So - I don't know what the problem was.  If he had replied "You lied about your XAML experience" when I asked him what he thought I lied about on my resume, that would have at least provided a discussion point.  But like I said, he gave no response when I challenged his assertion that I had somehow lied.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Loved working for this company. Supportive, clear job roles, great team work. Easy to enjoy the tasks, even though we were all working remotely. Great connection to the team and managers' comms were good.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not knowing whether contracts would be renewed. Equipment not always functioning, software licenses not for all on team doing same job - so had to go through one colleague.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Good team working. Collaboration and support within team was excellent. Knowledge-sharing encouraged. Felt comfortable yet professional. Boundaries clear.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Log in, read up on Teams group chat for any issues needing resolving, tune in to afternoon meeting for 15 minutes at 2pm to share any blockers or ask for support with tasks, work on tickets, close ticket for review/ sign-off by business stakeholders, ask for other work, sign off. No need to take work home with us!

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