Good work life balance but has some "cultural" quirks and a political environment - Anonymous employee Ancestry Employee Review

3.0
21 Apr 2011
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great life work balance. It's 9-5pm unless you really want to work longer. You can work from home when needed, take time off when needed, as long as you get your work done. The pay is good. The company is generous in giving you all the tools you need to do your job well. The San Francisco office just got free snacks and sodas and drinks. There are pockets of good people to work with.

Cons

The culture-not so good. It has more politics and hierarchy than Washington! And if you didn't already guess, Ancestry.com has a very conservative culture. The San Francisco office is changing a bit though, with more new people joining. The employees are on the older side, with most being married with kids. (So don't expect fun company events and parties.) The San Francisco office is considered a "satellite" office to the headquarters in Provo, Utah. So most of your team mates are out in Provo. Which makes communication difficult. There's a lot of teleconferencing and traveling back and forth that goes on. The benefits are not so great either. For the San Francisco office the health insurance used is Select Health, which is super hard to find providers for in California. It's also a very rough onboarding experience if you join the San Francisco office. You will not get much help from HR, since they are in Provo, nor will anyone around try to help you out. Not because people are unfriendly, but because there are so many travelers in and out that its' hard to tell who is new and who is just visiting from another office. If you are one of the unlucky ones to be the only one on your team in the SF office while the rest is in Provo, you will have a really tough time integrating.

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5.0
24 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great company culture, supportive team, smooth onboarding process, strong career stability, and meaningful work. My interview experience was very positive, and the recruiting and onboarding teams were helpful, responsive, and professional throughout the process.

Cons

There is always a learning curve when joining a new company, especially while understanding internal systems and processes, but the team has been very supportive.

3.0
12 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It’s a great product and people are customer obsessed.

Cons

Misogyny is baked in to the culture.

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