Disappointing - Senior Program Manager DISH Employee Review

2.0
10 May 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I can only speak about their corporate headquarters. This company hires younger people starting out and has dozens of openings, so it's a good place to get your foot in the door to get experience. This place has so much potential, management just can't seem to get it together.

Cons

If you have experience at other companies you probably won't like working here. Upper and middle managers at Dish are weak and inept. The culture is one of distrust. The badge-in/badge-out (factory worker) culture is just a symptom of the larger problem throughout the company and supported by senior managment. The performance appraisal process at this company promotes mediocre performance from everyone. High achievers aren't allowed to be rated/compensated as such due to a "pay formula," that keeps wages low, so hard workers who produce the most end up leaving. I received less than a 10% raise both times I was promoted. I was embarrassed after my boss showed me the percent increase I was to receive. After the last promotion I realized there was never going to be much of a financial gain, so it wasn't worth my time to stay. When I left, I doubled my salary, as do many of those who leave Dish. If you consider a cupcake, donut or a "free" lunch from time to time a perk, then you'll do fine here, for a while. And the "free" lunches are not free, employees have to "participate in a demonstration" to get a voucher for the lunch. When I run into former Dish employees, we talk about how we "escaped" Dish.

Explore other reviews about DISH

5.0
9 Dec 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You can make six figures

Cons

High turnover in employees and management

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DISH Response
6mo
It is excellent to hear that you recognize the significant earning potential and that you find the commission structure to be good. We are committed to providing a compensation structure that highly rewards performance. We acknowledge your observation regarding turnover within both our employee and management ranks. We recognize the importance of stability and are actively investing in programs to enhance employee engagement, development, and retention at all levels of the organization. Thank you for providing your valuable perspective.
3.0
15 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good middle management and compensation. Lots of opportunities to learn from plenty of smart people.

Cons

Disclaimer -This is all water cooler hearsay and opinion. During the two years I was there the bill came due on being penny wise and dollar dumb over the years. A great example is Sling. Dish beat basically everyone to market but Netflix with streaming and was the first platform to offer live TV via stream (which YouTube TV still uses as a selling point). What happened? Dish paid the original engineers to build it and then balked at paying them to document and maintain it. Same deal with the cyber security team. After years of expecting security engineers to do exceptional work shorthanded for middling compensation eventually they had none. It was all put on the security manager, who had a heart attack after repeatedly requesting support. He understandably did not return. Not much later one of the core systems was ransomed, and the company fell out of the fortune 500. Despite being in the middle of dealing with the consequences of those decisions leadership was doing it all again with the mobile network build out.

1
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DISH Response
1mo
Hearing that you found value in our middle management and compensation, as well as the chance to learn from the talented individuals on our teams, is encouraging. We appreciate you recognizing those aspects of your time with us. On the other hand, the historical context and concerns you shared regarding executive decision-making, infrastructure maintenance, and resource allocation are deeply concerning. Maintaining a stable, secure, and well-supported environment for our workforce is of the utmost importance, and we take feedback regarding employee well-being and operational decisions seriously. We are continually working to strengthen our operations and better support our teams across all business units. Because this review references a sensitive medical situation alongside organizational challenges, we would welcome the opportunity to hear more about your perspective. Please consider reaching out to our team directly at peopleoperations@dish.com so we can learn more.
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