Recursion has been one of the most disappointing companies I have worked at in my 10 years in biotech. I was so incredibly excited when I came onboard and absolutely loved Chris, the CEOs, vision talk. I felt like I was finally working on cutting edge science that was the future of biotech. And while Recursion very much might be that it will definitely be at the expense of your mental wellbeing. If you want ANY type of work life balance or stability look elsewhere. Recursion has by far been the most challenging (and I don’t be intellectually) place I have ever worked for. If you put up any type of boundaries (and I’m talking maybe you don’t want to work 7 days a week for 10hrs a day) you are made to feel as though you “don’t have the Recursion mindset” and are reminded that they are always watching and you are replaceable. Communication is incredibly bad as well. Recent lay offs disguised as a “re structure” took over a month to roll out so everyday you’d come to work not knowing if today was your last. For a FULL month. And if you weren’t laid off you were more than likely placed on random new team that doesn’t align with your skill sets or experience. Expect constant change. The leveling guide is also a joke here. There are people who have YEARS more of experience/education being brought in 3+ levels lower than people with less years of experience/education and they recently changed promotion cycles to yearly vs fall/spring. There is very little room to grow and even if you hit all their checkmarks and get glowing reviews they’ll tell you there’s not a company need for promotions. Also don’t except any type of cost of living raises. So while I do think the technology that Recursion has is incredibly useful and cutting edge it’s absolutely not worth you crying every week about working 60+ hrs a week 7 days a week. I’ve never felt more exhausted, gaslighted, unappreciated and walked over in my entire life.
