Most ungrateful company I've ever worked for - Anonymous employee Criteo Employee Review

3.0
Sep 19, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fantastic technology and constant innovation which helps the company to deliver phenomenal growth year on year. Smart colleagues and smart senior leadership. Once a year a Global company event in France where all the company's employees meet and have fun - very few companies can afford it.

Cons

Company is obsessed with making money but forgot that it's not the algorithm that brings the money but the people who work for the company, whether its developers, sales, account strategists or marketing. Salaries are below market just because many want to work in the company. Because of the low salaries the retention rate is low. Poor middle-management - you can be the best employee consistently but the moment you make one small mistake, you are crucified by the managers. Positive feedbacks from managers are non-existent and there is a culture of bullying and intimidation which originates in the fact that many of the managers have no management experience or skills. Any constructive feedbacks and ideas that employees try to give are immediately interpreted as: 1. a challenge on manager's authority or as: 2. criticism of company. Promotions: internal promotions can be great only when the right candidates are chosen. Too often, someone gets promoted just because he has been certain time at the company although it's clear that person isn't suitable for managerial position (company compromises on quality of management because of its rapid growth) or sometimes there is no structural need for additional managerial role. You can be the best employee in your team but if your manager don't like you personally, you can forget about promotion. There are rules in terms of internal mobility however they are not applied consistently (if senior management likes you, these rules will be bent). Workload: Sales managers have to be involved from signing an advertiser through integration process and launch (they spend more time on non-sales activities). Account strategists have a huge portfolio of accounts which they can't manage so they tend to really focus on bigger accounts and ignore the rest. Technical engineers have too many integrations to look after and have the worst work-life balance in the company. Micro-management: there is clearly no trust between managers and teams, as the amount of reporting you need to do is ridiculous and is done over multiple systems which creates confusion and duplicity. Too much red tape and too much time is spent on meetings and trainings (on a regular week you will waste 8 hours on such meetings).

Explore other reviews about Criteo

5.0
Mar 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good work life balance, all young people.

Cons

Taking away perks that we have had for a long time. Eventually reach your cap as an IC.

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Criteo Response
2mo
We're glad to know you've had a positive experience with us all those years. Open feedback always helps us improve and move forward so thank you for sharing and for contributing to making Criteo such a special place to work.
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
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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!
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