Culture of Fear is Alive and Well in P&IT - Anonymous employee Paycor Employee Review

2.0
Jan 24, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It is not a bad company overall. They do a lot of community outreach and volunteering, which is great. They have decent benefits, a free gym, and a reasonably prices cafe with decent food. I am hopeful the product and IT department will change their culture for the better (see cons). There are a lot of good people there and as far as a technology company they are always pushing the boundaries from a technical perspective.

Cons

Paycor is very fast paced. A lot of other companies I worked for where not slow by any stretch but comparatively Paycor has them beat. Due to this pace there is a lot of stress and issues. There are 22+ scrum teams that all have different priorities and inner-team dependencies becomes a huge problem that they have not been able to solve. I will also mention that it is a not a great culture (only speaking of the product and IT department, but I heard bad things from other departments as well), when things go wrong the first order is business is to determine blame (this is ultimately what caused me to leave). I think this has been made worse by a new CTO that joined last January. A lot of the old guard (mostly director and VP level) are scared and there is a lot of CYA going on when things go wrong. They also have a large and cumbersome change management and release process that everyone needs to adhere to. They do have a DevOps group that is slowing making progress but they struggle implementing the changes that the company needs due to the leadership that have been there a long time that have a preference to keep things status-quo.

Explore other reviews about Paycor

5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Anonymous intern
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Loved my team and the people I worked with.

Cons

I didnt really think there was any

1.0
Jun 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Paycheck hits on time every two weeks.

Cons

I wanted to like working at Paycor. The product has potential and the pitch during the interview process sounded promising. But the reality of day-to-day life here is a far cry from what's advertised. Micromanagement is rampant. Leadership tracks every minute of your day — from login times to bathroom breaks — yet somehow trusts no one to make even the smallest decision independently. You're treated like a number, not a professional. There's zero autonomy, and any attempt to take initiative is quickly shut down. The leadership team is deeply out of touch. Many managers got their roles through tenure, not merit, and it shows. They struggle to answer basic questions about the industry, lean on buzzwords in meetings, and consistently make decisions that anyone with relevant experience would know to avoid. When things go wrong, blame rolls downhill fast. The culture is toxic and cliquey. If you're not in the right social circle, advancement is nearly impossible. Favoritism is blatant, feedback is rarely constructive, and the "open door policy" is a joke — speak up and you'll find yourself quietly pushed out. The work environment doesn't help either. High turnover means institutional knowledge constantly walks out the door. Morale is low, burnout is high, and HR seems more interested in protecting the company than the employees.

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