A good Place to start - Software Engineer Tripadvisor Employee Review

4.0
7 Jan 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefits and a strong salary even for entry level positions. The free lunch 3-4 times a week is good plus the unlimited snacks and drinks. A nitpick here is that they tend to restock the drinks nobody likes and cycle out the ones that I like and are gone. Developing is fast paced and changes can be shown to others very quickly after completion. This is a full stack development which allows for all engineers make their own design decisions for the implementation. There is good communication with the product managers which allows the engineer to give a fair amount of input. The people at the company are awesome. The culture tends to be laid back in the teams and the environment promotes asking other engineers for help on difficult sections. There are a bunch of training classes for spoken languages and other trainings. However they are not easily accessible or I never felt that they were easy to seek out. It would be better if fewer were offered at a time and have a visible place to access and sign up. There is some support for this but it could be better. There are plenty of things to do at the office, including video games, board games and a foosball table. But aside from the foosball table, these get rarely used if at all.

Cons

Mobility within the company is difficult. In order to switch teams or offices you need to be excellent at your current position. The culture for this is one of blame. Bugs you introduce are tracked and remembered indefinitely. These all detract from the excellent rating. This is a serious problem, if you are placed on a product that doesn't interest you, it is difficult to excel and switch to another part. Work life balance is not the greatest. Engineers are advised that 40 hours is the minimum, and working beyond that is a good way to show their exceptional work. The code base is not in the best state. Code is often copied and pasted which leads to errors or outdated code permeating the entire website. Encapsulation is not very well achieved because of this. Similarily the opposite can occur, where several different ways of doing the same thing are implemented as part of different projects which introduces inconsistencies. Code is rarely cleaned up, however there seems to be a push to do more cleanup projects.

Explore other reviews about Tripadvisor

5.0
18 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

people are awesome remote work is common pay and benefits are good

Cons

can they stay relevant in the world of AI

1
avatar
Tripadvisor Response
4mo
Thank you for your positive remarks. As our company continues to evolve, we are appreciative of employee comments that highlight our strengths as well as areas we can improve upon.
2.0
21 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people you get to work with are genuinely great, and the work-life balance remains fairly solid. In the past, the company attracted top-tier engineering talent from the most reputable tech firms, and the expectations were high but rewarding. A lot of that collaborative culture still exists among the engineers. You will be surrounded by capable individuals who want to do good work.

Cons

The company has been battered by unresolved structural issues over the last decade. The core meta-search business was crippled when Google altered its algorithms to prioritize its own travel products, effectively choking off the organic traffic Tripadvisor depended on. Combined with the impact of COVID-19, leadership tried launching new products to escape this SEO reliance, but those attempts consistently missed the mark. Now, the rapid adoption of LLMs is delivering another severe blow. Users no longer need traditional meta-search to plan travel. The core Tripadvisor product has essentially become a legacy cash cow, with the Experiences division (Viator) being the primary engine keeping the business afloat. Following the departure of the former CEO, thousands of highly skilled employees have left through attrition or ongoing restructuring. Layoffs have become a grim constant, happening once or twice a year. Even if you manage to avoid the cuts, the compensation structure is no longer competitive for the tech industry, and RSUs have virtually dried up. Because of the abysmal direction and the very high chance you won't survive the next round of looming layoffs, I strongly recommend avoiding this company as a new hire.

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