Avoid, unless is your only option - Software Engineer Gusto Employee Review

2.0
19 Sept 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Respectful environment for people from different cultures and backgrounds, English classes if you don't speak it well, the pay is okay if you're an engineer.

Cons

Non-existent QA processes for features, so when something explodes the PM comes running and demands the issues to be fixed. But there are no acceptance criteria, staging environment, or well-written Jira tickets. The senior engineering staff has this strange practice of blocking your PRs with 'best practices' suggestions just never to go back to it if you've more questions. Also, they will treat you as if you were an expert on the codebase, usually lecturing you about not using 'legacy stuff' without prior context. The tech debt is astronomical, but they insist on using technologies that probably won't solve the use case. It is expected for you to publish on average 10 PRs per month to keep you in the performance green-zone. Why 10? No one knows. Should I deliver 10 even if I'm new to the company? Yes. Can anyone explain to me why is this failing? Guess what, nobody knows or senior staff is not willing to help. The onboarding for engineering is not existent. They have treated me with respect but beyond that, I think it is one of the worst companies I've worked for. If you do Ruby on Rails of course you can get something far better. Expect overwork.

Explore other reviews about Gusto

5.0
10 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Smart and friendly coworkers. Excellent team culture

Cons

Tunnel visions on AI a bit too much

2.0
20 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The product is genuinely good, too bad the same can’t be said for how they treat the people who sell it.

Cons

Leadership talks a big game about people-first culture but the reality doesn’t match. The Chicago office expansion felt like a poorly thought-out experiment, new hires were brought on without a clear long-term commitment, and layoffs came without warning, leaving people blindsided. Crossing a billion dollars in revenue and still cutting employees sends a clear message about where workers rank on the priority list. Remote work flexibility is also a glaring weakness. For a company selling HR software to modern businesses, their internal stance on where employees can work is surprisingly rigid and hypocritical. The “flexibility” messaging is mostly optics. The broader concern is the AI roadmap. The automation push feels less like an innovation strategy and more like a slow wind-down of the workforce. Employees aren’t blind to it, it creates anxiety and erodes trust. The culture of transparency they promote externally is largely a facade internally.

9
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