Zillow as a whole is great. My department, the worst... - Anonymous employee Zillow Employee Review

3.0
27 Jun 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Overall company culture is great -Good people -Free food everywhere -Work life balance is good with PTO and DTO -Commuter Reimbursements -Gym Reimbursements -Referral bonuses -Casual dress code -Ping pong and video game rooms -CEO and execs are great

Cons

The operations department is where I spent my time. It started off good for about 3 months, then managements true colors start to show, or lack there of. The managers operate in an old fashion corporate way, not the Zillow-way. You get watched like a hawk, micromanaged, no recognition, no bonuses, no team morale. It's a dead end department where your Zillow career goes to die and if you are reading this and considering joining their team, DON'T... Yes, there is an internal transfer program, but the managers are not too supportive when you want to leave their team. They talk bad about the team your interested in to try and keep you to stay. They dangle leadership advancement carrots in front of you to try and keep you as the robot you are. No fun is allowed in the department, it's widely known as one of the worst departments to be in. They have no morale or team bonding events. Zillow encourages managers to take their teams out to bond and do happy hours, but they still don't. Their is no career advancement opportunities within the department either. There are people on the team 5+ years that don't have even a Senior title. There is no team leads. Just 2-3 managers with a bunch of pawns. Their is a ton of hypocrisy within the department as well - the managers all live by the do as I say, not as I do mentality. You're expected to be robots, while the managers sit on social media, CNN, Youtube, Amazon all day. Myself and other employees saw it all the time. They need to just clean house and start over, or do some serious management training (which is provided by Zillow), but they obviously don't attend. They pay you poorly, just about the Seattle minimum wage, and hope you stay forever and are happy with your yearly 1.5% merit bonus and 50 stock options.

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Zillow Response
8y
Thank you for your feedback. You don’t specify which Ops group you are a part of and we have many across the company. However, as a VP at ZG, your feedback is very important to me as it would be to any of our leaders. We pride ourselves on the quality of our teams and managers. We offer a full suite of manager training, as you mention below, and seek to provide a work environment in which each and every employee can be at their best. At ZG, our core values are our cornerstone and one of the most important to me is “Own It”. I will personally be looking in to the issues you highlight below. I also encourage you to “Turn On the Lights” by speaking to me or another leader directly so that we can do a deeper dive into your concerns and experience. Our HR team is also available as well. JR Gast, VP Client Experience jrg@zillowgroup.com

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Zillow Response
1mo
Thank you for sharing such a detailed perspective. We understand that frequent changes to roles, account ownership and business priorities can have a real impact on relationship-building and the day-to-day experience in sales. We’re glad to hear compensation was a positive part of your time at Zillow, and we appreciate you being candid about where the model and structure felt frustrating. Feedback like yours helps us better understand how these changes are experienced across teams as the business evolves.
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