Things are changing for the worse - Senior Software Engineer Mastercard Employee Review

2.0
Jun 4, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-The people who work at APT are still amazing and friendly people. -There is a good culture surrounding individual growth and mentorship -It is easy to find ways to utilize your strengths

Cons

-The somewhat recent acquiring by Mastercard has removed a lot of benefits that are needed to keep APT competitive. The sabbatical program is being removed, free health care was taken away, vacation days only increase after 6 years of work (as opposed to the original 3 years), profit sharing has moved to a 4 year vesting schedule (as opposed to immediate), no stock options/company performance based incentives -All those good people are slowly leaving APT -The culture is drifting away from small company/startup towards corporate america

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Mastercard Response
8y
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am sorry to hear that you feel like things are changing for the worse. While there have been recent changes to some of our benefits impacting future hires, many of the things you mention do not highlight the positive changes that have occurred from integrating with the Mastercard benefits plans. When we were acquired by Mastercard in 2015, every APT employee was given an additional 5 personal days, as well as 3 community service days, which as a whole has made our PTO plan very generous. Along with an increase in paid time off, the recent changes have also included an increase to our maternity (16 weeks at 100% paid) and paternity (8 weeks at 100% paid) leaves, added family care benefits, two additional community service days, more generous STD and LTD plans, corporate sports team and tuition assistance. While it’s true there is a 4 year vesting period on 401K, the recently increased 401k match to 10% is well above industry standards. The APT office space is intended to promote collaboration amongst teams and the recent “pod” addition is a temporary solution until our expansion to an additional floor is completed. At APT, we are committed to preserving our small-company culture as we continue to collaborate with our Mastercard colleagues. We do not want you to be unhappy with the recent changes and hope that you’ll be able to see the positive changes that have occurred. I encourage you to talk to your HR Partner to get a better understanding of your total benefits package.

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Pros

Good people to work with, opportunities for growth

Cons

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4.0
May 27, 2026
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Pros

Mastercard does a great job fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. There are genuinely good people throughout the organization, and leadership often invests in employee engagement through events, recognition, and culture-building initiatives. I enjoyed many of the relationships I built while working there, and there are teams that truly care about collaboration and supporting one another.

Cons

Compensation at the director level did not feel competitive compared to the level of responsibility expected. Career advancement can also be extremely challenging due to how top-heavy the organization is with senior leadership roles. There are a large number of Senior Vice Presidents, sometimes without clear scope or experience aligned to the title, which creates limited room for high-performing employees to grow. At times, it felt like senior leaders were being hired primarily to manage or communicate with other senior leaders, rather than drive meaningful operational impact. In product and go-to-market roles especially, priorities are often heavily driven by funding decisions. It can be frustrating when projects suddenly shift in importance or remain underfunded for long periods of time while awaiting senior leadership review. This sometimes leaves highly talented employees in limbo, unable to move initiatives forward despite strong momentum or market opportunity. The organization can also be very comfortable with the status quo, which creates a slower pace that many employees seem accustomed to. For people who are highly motivated and eager to drive change, it can feel difficult to navigate the number of roadblocks and layers of approval required to move initiatives forward.

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