Toxic culture in once-upon-a-time nice place to work - Software Developer Optiver Employee Review

1.0
Apr 19, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are some really nice and smart people. Work can be interesting. Having barista on site is quite nice.

Cons

Shame those nice people are not in position to make change. Optiver used to be nice place to work. Then management and HR decided that people can more productive if they are told that everything they do can be better or done faster. Toxic culture of blame. People become withdrawn due to the excessive load and expectations. Some teams are worse than others. If someone decides a person should go, they will be bullied out of company using performance improvement program. If you are going through hiring, make sure to ask proper base salary since your bonus depends on rating and that is at mercy of management.

Explore other reviews about Optiver

5.0
Feb 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

worked on a lot of different areas of the trading stack; often close with researchers learned about technical components for data driven trading saw my impact day to day

Cons

constant office renovations were a bit distracting, but was told it should be done in 2026

3.0
May 21, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good compensation, collaborative environment. Company also seems to aim to be at forefront of new tech such as AI

Cons

When HR mgmt is on record stating things like the company shouldn’t hire females anymore, it really makes you wonder how they make decisions on who should fill management positions

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