Was a good company - Principal Software Engineer Autodesk Employee Review

1.0
5 May 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very good work-life balance. People usually just work a few hours every day. The pay is not low but not high either. The company is not customer facing. And its products have sticky fact -- once the designers start using it, switching to another one is risky and costly. So it is sort of stable. It is still dominating building industry and 2D CAD area. I tried a few other 2D softwares. They are far worse than AutoCAD.

Cons

The reason why I give it one star is because of three reasons (without them the company deserves 3 stars): 1. when I leave the company recently, there is no exist interview. My manager asked HR but no response. The company doesn't care why you want to leave. 2. I worked long enough time that I earn a sabbatical, which is 6 weeks paid vacation. I did not get payment for this when I left the company. So I sent email to HR asking for this. I did not get any response either. 3. Early this year I had a friend who wanted to partner with Autodesk. So I sent an email to a senior sales manager asking how to do so. I did not get response. Apparently people working there just want to get paid. They are not passionate. This is the reason why I wanted to leave too. Only a few percentages of people really working hard -- I know a few of them. The rest are just lying in their chairs, sometimes making negative contributions. The company doesn’t pay excellent people enough – a few thousand dollar difference won’t encourage people to work harder and overtime. If you are smart and want to get paid for your contribution, don’t go there. Not much growth. It is not one of the top three companies in 3D manufacturing industry. Since going from 2D to 3D is inevitable, it is losing its foundation. When their old customers (designers) retire, the company will suffer. Pay is okay -- can't compete with the hot companies in bay area. Even startups can beat it. If you just want a job, this is a good company to work with.

Explore other reviews about Autodesk

5.0
1 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good WLB Low Turnover Rates Interesting Projects/Work Full Benefits + 401k

Cons

Medium Pay, Not Amazing Stock Packages

2.0
12 Jun 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The individual contributors, your peers you work with day in and day out are fantastic people! At the IC level, for the most part, it feels like everyone is in the fight together. The work/life balance is good depending on which business unit/team you're aligned with. The benefits are pretty solid, especially the 6 week sabbatical.

Cons

Autodesk moves at the pace of a snail, very slow to take action on anything. Selling is very difficult with all the undocumented approvals, processes, red tape and very few people are willing to actually help! Leadership doesn't care about the people their decisions impact. Feedback is rarely listened to and acted upon. Pay is terrible compared to competitors in this space. Autodesk has embraced a ton of change over the last few years with new marketing, sales and IT leadership and it shows. They are not shy in showing their desire to be the next Oracle at the expense of their people. They are constantly changing tools, processes, people, roles, you name it so you feel like you're under water constantly. Lipstick on a pig.

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