Trouble in Paradise

Stratus Solutions, where I am interning as a Software Engineer, seems like a great company to work for. They were ranked a “Top Workplace” by the Washington Post in 2016 and 2017. Their parent company, Applied Insight, was named one of the fastest growing companies in the DC area in 2019. The company seems eager to grow. On their website, they list at least 30 open positions within the company. They also provide hefty referral bonuses if you refer someone who gets hired. In the beginning of the internship, I was confused why they were so focused on recruitment. Why wouldn’t anyone want to join this company. Only after thinking about it for several weeks and thinking about my own future did I finally discover Stratus’ problems.

Stratus’ first problem is that most of their jobs require people to be physically in-office. Stratus contracts for the federal government, and any classified material can only be accessed from the Stratus office. COVID-19 has unmasked this problem. I think the future of the tech industry is working remotely. With high costs of living in Silicon Valley and a growing number of businesses switching to remote work for the foreseeable future (e.g. Twitter), people will realize they don’t need to live close to an office. This is an incredible freedom worth both time (in driving to and from work) and money (in cheaper rent). Stratus workers will not be able to enjoy this freedom. The company already pays more than non-government businesses to attract quality talent away from Silicon Valley, but if they can’t offer this freedom, they will only have more difficulty finding qualified engineers.

Stratus’ second problem is that qualified applicants don’t want to jump through the hoops to secure and maintain a security clearance. Government cybersecurity in general is having the same problem. The FBI has said they can’t find cybersecurity experts not only because of the long applications and lengthy vetting process, but also because of the drug testing policies. In a state like California, marijuana is legal, and workers aren’t fired for consuming while off the clock.

These problems aren’t unique to Stratus, but I encourage Stratus to try and solve them. One solution is to work with the federal government and update policy on remotely working on classified material. This would give workers the freedom to live outside of DC, a place in which it is notoriously expensive to live. Another solution is to encourage the government to relax their policies on drug use and security clearances since marijuana is already legal in DC.