Optimal Solutions Group Reviews

This company hires amazing, highly skilled individuals, but both the CEO and COO do not appreciate their employees’ expertise, nor do they attempt to train employees. When the CEO and COO do provide input, they often contradict each other, leaving employees left trying to figure out whose direction to follow. Even when employees do exactly what was instructed, they still face the possibility of being reprimanded because the executives are so fickle minded. Reprimands are in the form of email blasts to the whole company or publicly putting employees down. The accounting of hours is very strict, and because contracts are underbid, it forces employees to scramble for billable hours during the workday so they can work on underfunded projects on their own time. The company has many young people, with fresh, innovative ideas; however, the executives believe that their method is the only one that matters. This holds true even when that method yields failure. The office has a cold feeling, with an undercurrent of fear. Employees often speak in a whisper and I avoided talking with the executives to avoid a potential confrontation or ridiculous requests.

My initial review that I posted in 2014/2015 was removed. It was pretty scathing but all of it was true, so I don’t know how OSG was able to do it. Fortunately, I found an old email I sent to a friend and this is what I said to her about my job: “It is very unlikely that I will get to travel as part of my job, so whatever was said at my interview was misleading. In fact, the two people who interviewed me for this job aren't even working on the same projects as me and I'm not in their office division. Also, the bad reviews about the company on GlassDoor.com are mostly true. There actually is high turnover, and it is due to the bad working conditions - people are overworked and there is no investment in training or professional development. My coworker said that staying one year is considered a long time at the company, so I guess people tend to move on quickly. “Overall, the working environment is very tense and focused. The employees at my level and below are mostly younger than me, but they are quite serious (at least at the office). Nobody seems to socialize at their cubicles or in the kitchen, and nobody seems to socialize together outside of work. During the day the office is very quiet. I find it uncomfortable and stressful. And most people scarf down lunch at their desk because they don't have time to walk across the street to the cafeteria or get in a car and drive out to get lunch. =(“ My original post also said that a few coworkers once told me they didn’t bother to learn anyone’s name unless they stayed at least 6 months - that’s how bad the turnover was. I suspect it’s still the same. It’s been years since I worked at OSG, but it’s one of the worst working experiences I’ve ever had, so that’s why I wanted to come back and repost my review. Hopefully it’s not removed again.