Gutless Leadership - Software Engineering Manager Zillow Employee Review

2.0
31 Jul 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- good company values: transparency, honesty, teamwork, people-first - excellent onboarding - great remote-first culture -- everyone is remote, so no-one is remote - interested in your activities outside of work

Cons

The worst manager of my career here. A true engineer-turned-manager, they played mind-tricks on everyone, miscommunicated constantly, dismissed opinions, gave no career guidance, and absolutely hated the interpersonal part of the job. Many logged complaints before I even started, yet nothing was ever done. Out of the blue, after receiving a Successful review, I was not meeting expectations and performance problems were exaggerated to get me to leave. When that didn't work, they laid me off for the first time in my 25+ year career. Had internal interviews lined up for other positions, but they didn't care. HR never helped. Absolutely horrific experience. I cannot ever recommend this place.

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Zillow Response
10mo
Thank you for your review. We hear you on the importance of clear, consistent communication. Creating transparency in a growing and evolving company takes work, and your feedback helps us understand where we can do better. Thanks for 'Turning on the Lights' to tell us what's working, and what still needs focus.

Explore other reviews about Zillow

5.0
13 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great company to work for

Cons

Long hours with low pay

1
3.0
8 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You can make good money here.

Cons

In sales, job can change often. For example: I was making good money and excelling because I am a relationship Sales person. Then they changed it to where you get the sale, and instead of being able to grow that account via that relationship you just broke into, you have to pass it to an account manager and go back to cold/robo calling. You "book" of business you recive to prospect from is a lottery. I received a book of prospects/accounts that most of the were low income, or senior living properties. They don't have a budget and have a line of renter on a waitlist. No way to convince them to spend money on advertising but you still have the same quota.

2
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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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