Challenging projects, great work life balance, multi-cultural environment - Software Engineer Criteo Employee Review

5.0
Nov 6, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Impressive tech stack. Still a good mix of startup spirit and big company: 'No fear' approach on the one hand and all needed resources to try on the other (talents, infrastructure). If a project failed/late/killed - happens, keep moving (no blame/punishment). Proactivity is encouraged and expected: no matter how junior you are, new ideas are welcomed (of course there is a challenge to get them planned). I.e. there is a Hackathon every year which gives the winners an opportunity to work on their projects. Internal mobility: managers try to take into account engineers preferences and help to change the scope if a guy doesn't want to work on the topiс anymore (unfortunately not always possible, but the effort is away bigger than in my previous companies). Also, there is a cross-offices Voyager program: any engineer can join another R&D team for a few weeks to learn new stuff. Diverse environment: >10 nationalities for appx 100 people in the office. Work-life balance: no work during the weekends or late in the evening, flexible working hours (people can shift a bit their schedule when needed, can WFH occasionally; no official WFH policy though). Reasonable management: most managers have regular 1-1s with their direct reports + occasional ones with the rest (i.e. anybody can request a 1-1 with any Director or VP); top management is open for discussions on any topic (even negative anonymous reviews are being discussed in a positive manner: 'lets brainstorm together what we can do better')

Cons

Working with HQ in Paris is challenging due to 9 hours difference + lots of technical dependencies (management tries to mitigate it by having isolated projects when possible, but it's still hard). Less variety of projects than in Paris (natural for any non-HQ office and difficult to change). Diving stock price (and no recipe to fix it so far) Quarterly planning is heavy and takes lots of time.

avatar
Criteo Response
6y
We are delighted to hear that you enjoy working at Criteo. Thank YOU for being an important part of what makes our culture so great! As an evolving company, we keep trying to better ourselves so please if there are ever things that you think we should be changing or improving, you know that you can always reach out to your manager or People experience partner.

Explore other reviews about Criteo

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great environment, great people to work with

Cons

Need to go back to office

avatar
Criteo Response
13h
We're thrilled to receive such positive feedback and to know that you've found a place where you can grow and thrive at Criteo. Thank you for sharing and for your trust all these years. It's great to have you on the team!
1.0
Feb 26, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Earlier in my time at Criteo, the culture was a true strength. Teams were collaborative, capable, and invested in delivering value to clients. There are still incredibly smart, hardworking people across the organization when they are given the resources needed to deliver strong work.

Cons

Morale has declined significantly due to direction from upper leadership. Executive communications often feel scripted and disconnected from the realities teams are navigating. Employees are facing burnout, layoffs, no merit compensation growth, and increasing workloads without clear strategic guidance. Leadership layers have expanded in ways that create bottlenecks and slow decision making, while individual contributors lack clarity on priorities and long term direction. Internal mobility has been restricted, limiting opportunities for promotion or role movement at the same time compensation progression has been removed. Salary transparency was removed from internal and external role descriptions, which has impacted trust. Despite positive performance, cost discipline appears to disproportionately affect employees rather than being shared equitably across leadership levels. Additionally, a return to office policy has been implemented, including for employees originally hired as remote. This has added strain and uncertainty for teams.

9
avatar
Criteo Response
3mo
Thank you for sharing such detailed feedback. Every decision we make is taken with our long-term organizational health in mind. From top leadership to individual contributors, we are all committed to building sustainable success for our company and the people in it. Making Criteo a place where everyone can grow is a shared priority, and that’s why we equally value vertical and horizontal career pathways. When it comes to individual recognition, our merit compensation processes are structured and similar across our entire organization to ensure maximum fairness and equity. Since Criteo's success is built on connections, we strongly encourage our teams to come together to boost innovation and collaboration at once. By blending office presence with flexible options, we keep trust at the core of our work approach since everyone remain empowered to manage their time, energy, and schedule the way they see fit. Open feedback helps us improve and move forward, so thank you for sharing yours!
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All