Do your homework on the teams and managers. - Anonymous employee Gusto Employee Review

2.0
Apr 29, 2020
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong sense of mission for small businesses. Mostly good people who care about doing right for the customer. Established startup with good name, raised a large round before Covid.

Cons

Solving product gaps with CX, which results in burnout for people in the customer support roles. No 360 reviews. Managers can cherry-pick which reports they get reviewed by. Gusto conducts employee surveys but how transparent they are with the results varies by department. Gusto isn’t hiring much now but if you are evaluating an offer, do your homework on managers and team. Find people who have left and ask them about their experience. Ask about team attrition, as compared to company average. Ask about team and manager scores. Manager experience is very uneven based on what I’ve seen and differ by departments and individuals. There are managers who care about their teams’ happiness and development, there are managers who burn and churn. Data Science has a reputation for good managers. Marketing has high attrition. PM had several leaders and senior PMs leave within the past 6 months. If you don’t get a good manager, your ability to move around is limited. Negotiate as high as you can. Cash comp is frozen until the fall for current employees.

Explore other reviews about Gusto

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Smart and friendly coworkers. Excellent team culture

Cons

Tunnel visions on AI a bit too much

2.0
May 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The product is genuinely good, too bad the same can’t be said for how they treat the people who sell it.

Cons

Leadership talks a big game about people-first culture but the reality doesn’t match. The Chicago office expansion felt like a poorly thought-out experiment, new hires were brought on without a clear long-term commitment, and layoffs came without warning, leaving people blindsided. Crossing a billion dollars in revenue and still cutting employees sends a clear message about where workers rank on the priority list. Remote work flexibility is also a glaring weakness. For a company selling HR software to modern businesses, their internal stance on where employees can work is surprisingly rigid and hypocritical. The “flexibility” messaging is mostly optics. The broader concern is the AI roadmap. The automation push feels less like an innovation strategy and more like a slow wind-down of the workforce. Employees aren’t blind to it, it creates anxiety and erodes trust. The culture of transparency they promote externally is largely a facade internally.

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