Nuance Software Developer reviews

I moved to work for Nuance in the middle of flu season and I was in a strange country and I (predictably) got the flu. I was told in my first two weeks that "We have more of an American than a German culture" and "People don't usually take sick days, they work from home". (this recurred several times. In emails I was told to get well soon, and rest up, and all positive things. Then I would get to work the next day and have to sit through an hour lecture for taking half a week off when my manager knew full well I had a doctors note for the whole week). In my first three months I was asked if I had any plans to have children. Once a year they would lay off up to 10% of the workforce with a days notice (which, as well as being bad for morale, almost always resulted in loss of vital information because the teams were far too small and never collaborated). Bad management resulted in "emergency deadlines" and people working 50 hour weeks as a matter of routine, and people working weekends and public holidays for months at a time. Absolutely no training or opportunities to upskill, and little if any encouragement or opportunity for internal transfers or promotions. The teams are so small and closeted that you can barely learn by observation. (And yes it's been a while, but my manager definitely still works there, and I hear nothing has changed.)

Company culture and investment in promoting from within are limited.