Great co-workers, but run by a narcissistic dictator and a toothless HR team - Engineer Automattic Employee Review

2.0
Aug 15, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Work from home perks are fantastic - Cover all medical premiums - Insurance is California-based, California has the best protections at the state level for requiring things be covered by insurance - Employee groups are fantastic - Other employees are wonderful, across the board - Hours are very flexible - Great place to work if you're looking to coast on a steady paycheck and not have any real career ambitions and be able to focus on your personal life

Cons

Matthew. Every day you just hope he doesn't look in the direction of your team/project or else who knows what will happen. I've worked at startups before but never seen an environment where literally every "suggestion" or "thought" the CEO has suddenly must be done right this second. And there is no room for people to disagree. Discourse is "welcome" but that's because he assumes you will eventually see how he is right. Only yes-people survive and thrive here when you have to interact with Matt. Aside from that, there is no career growth (you are not told who your peers are, how your performance is assessed, or how you can progress to the next level). Pay is incredibly low for the US, it's better internationally but also many places you are a contractor and not eligible for other benefits. They "don't believe in levels" (which is a lie - new leads are congratulated, yet it's *not* a promotion cause they don't do promotions) Bottom line,

Explore other reviews about Automattic

5.0
Apr 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Thorough and thoughtful onboarding process. Super supportive coworkers. The vast amount of resources to learn is second to none. Leads and mentors proactively check in and offer support constantly. Diversity and inclusion is amazing.

Cons

I do not have any cons at this time.

2.0
Jan 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I had the opportunity to work alongside incredibly smart, talented, and kind colleagues who were always willing to share their knowledge. The role offered diverse and engaging technical challenges working with a wide range of customers, most of whom were pleasant to collaborate with. The company provided excellent health insurance and 401k benefits, which I genuinely appreciated. The yearly travel for team meetups was a highlight. It created valuable opportunities for team building and strengthened relationships across the distributed team.

Cons

While unlimited PTO sounds attractive on paper, in practice it required careful coordination with team capacity and management, making it less flexible than expected. The culture inadvertently encouraged overworking, as people often forgot to actually take time off. Weekend on-call shifts, combined with a small team rotation, created real burnout risk. The most significant issue was the unexpected layoffs, which were extremely disruptive to team morale and productivity. The instability created by constant turnover ultimately became unsustainable and led to my decision to leave the company.

10
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