High-tech nightmare - Staff Software Engineer PayPal Employee Review

2.0
31 Oct 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Compensation and benefits to an extent. Convenient location and facility, onsite gym, green field for sports.

Cons

Highly secretive and hypocritical culture with a dash of a far-eastern aptitude. Grinds good professionals down to either stressed out, overworked marionettes or political survivors. Attracts and harbors quite a bit of paycheck chasers and tech phonies. Processes frequently change and at the same time are as slow as the telegraph in the fiber optic era. It's hard to catch up and stay up to speed, esp for new hires. And of course politics. It has flooded everywhere. The ebay mothership advertises good values which unfortunately serve as a facade only. Usually values are walked over demonstratively after finding a convenient excuse.

Explore other reviews about PayPal

5.0
15 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good company to work for, good work life balance

Cons

They should have more developers than other titles.

2.0
13 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

PayPal has a lot of potential. It has two very strong brands in PayPal and Venmo with significant awareness and user bases that other companies envy. There are pockets of teams that are really pushing the envelop to reimagine what PayPal and Venmo could be—especially the Venmo team—and to move with speed given the company must stay focused and not waste time with Apple Pay, Shop Pay, and so many other competitors nipping at PayPal's heels and aggressively taking market share.

Cons

While some teams are pushing to self-disrupt and are moving fast, too many teams—and I'd argue the majority of the company–are living off of PayPal's laurels from the late 2010s through the pandemic. The culture and mindset have to change for the company to remain competitive. Otherwise, they are the Titanic and they're sinking slowly. The former CEO who only last 2 years tried diversifying the company's revenue, planning for the future. But the board and its former chairman (now new CEO) felt he wasn't moving fast enough to stabilize and marketshare. Instead, the board hired the former chairman who made computers and printers at HP—another sinking ship—to lead the oldest fintech company. The loss of confidence in the leadership team and the strategy are only accelerating.

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