This is a review for ATG Stores - A subsidiary of Lowe's in Kirkland, WA. Lowe's took over the IT shop at ATG Stores and absolutely destroyed it.
They have a very top down, East coast, old school style of running an IT department. Each developer is viewed as a plug n play, replaceable resource. If you step out of line you'll be dismissed.
If you are writing code for Lowe's, you'll be doing just that. There is no engineering going on as that is reserved for BA's and PM's who tell you exactly what to do. There were times that my wrist was slapped when I threw a flag up and called out several bugs that we are being asked to introduce. I was told to continue so I did and prepared to stay up late the following week to respond to the bug report in an emergency release while doing free overtime.
Previously mentioned BA's and PM's who are basically your puppet master are highly under qualified for their jobs. This is because Lowe's upper management will move them into their roles without proper qualifications to circumvent H1B restrictions.
If you're working in Kirkland, be prepared to be talked down to by your peers in Mooresville, NC. That's right - software developers and their support will talk down to Seattle area engineers. North Carolina!
The morale at Kirkland is at an all time low. There was a sudden round of layoffs (there's been a few), where they dismissed the VP of technology who was a founding member of the company. Those who made the cut were in shock and some were emotional. The upper management (note: clowns) from NC came in the next day and were excited about how they are going to re-arrange furniture. There were literally employees in the room crying and Lowes execs were excited to talk about desk arrangements.
Speaking of Lowe's execs. I was at a townhall where an ATG developer asked a Chief Lowe's Exec how the merge will affect our company culture. He responded by talking about our 12 month roadplan and all the exciting work we'll be working on. It isn't easy to read between the lines and see that this guy didn't even know what a company culture is.
Be prepared to get NC wages in Seattle area. According to another executive, "There isn't that big of a wage gap". There are HR and Legal policies preventing you from getting a raise. However, there are no policies preventing overtime, 24hr on call, and having you do more demanding roles. This paradigm is highly abused.
