Honest advice about F5 Networks - Software Engineer F5 Employee Review

3.0
Aug 28, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

This is for the San Jose office only, and does not reflect Seattle. Also, I'm re-posting from something glassdoor had me remove cause it was too honest a few months back, so I'll try to choose my words carefully. - work life balance - decent office perks - location of office, short commutes - mostly decent people Advice to people looking to F5 for employment, use F5 has a stepping stone if you must, if you're a new grad try looking else where cause F5 will low ball you big time. This place is great to hibernate, collect a pay check, get really good medical benefits, and study your way into a much better company.

Cons

- some really terrible peers, in terms of character, lots of politics and backstabing, lots of cc with manager emails for no good reason - some teams over worked, 12-14 hour days - rhetoric of the company does not match the reality, they say one thing, but there's always an excuse to not follow through - People in HR / Hiring has personally told me they will bid the lowest they can go, and only recently have they starting to offer slightly more due to lack of talent / interest - culture is slowly degenerating due to influx of low talent hires from " surrounding " companies, you can figure it out on your own what I mean - nepotism is very high, growth is nearly impossible if you don't play the political game or know someone who will go to bat for you - middle management is often handcuffed to get the resources they need or are lied to by upper management due to politics.

Explore other reviews about F5

5.0
May 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* I enjoyed the collaborative team culture. Everyone was supportive and willing to help each other. * The work-life balance was good, and the overall working environment was relatively low stress. * I had opportunities to work on large-scale enterprise products and collaborate with cross-functional teams.

Cons

* One area I felt could be improved was compensation growth. As my responsibilities and technical skills expanded, I was looking for opportunities that offered stronger career and compensation progression.

4.0
Jun 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefits and good culture

Cons

Sales compensation changes frequently and randomly

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