GCC doomed to fail because of incompetency - Software Development Engineer (SDE) Smartsheet Employee Review

1.0
Apr 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Salary, tech stack, US team

Cons

I have some concerns about the current setup in Smartsheet India. From my perspective, there appears to be a significant level of favoritism and internal politics influencing decisions across multiple levels of the organization. Additionally, some of the recent hiring decisions raise questions about role fit and overall quality, especially in cases where experienced resources seem to have been replaced with less experienced talent. This, combined with challenges in the HR and recruiting processes, is impacting team effectiveness and overall morale. I believe that unless these areas—particularly transparent decision-making, hiring standards, and organizational alignment—are addressed, they could pose risks to long-term success.

avatar
Smartsheet Response
2w
Thanks for your review. We take your concerns regarding favoritism, internal politics, and hiring standards very seriously. As we continue our global expansion to better serve the market, our goal is to maintain a high-performance culture rooted in support, structure, and respect across all regions. We remain committed to upholding high standards for our technical talent and expect all team members to maintain a strong technical foundation regardless of their location. We will share your feedback with the appropriate teams.

Explore other reviews about Smartsheet

5.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Time schedule was very good for work

Cons

Employees were okay i like them

avatar
Smartsheet Response
4d
Thank you for your kind review! We are so sad to see you go, but happy that you had a great experience working here and we wish you the absolute best in your next chapter.
1.0
May 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Supportive of AI tooling. I had a great manager. I heard the severance packages are great, but I left of my own volition, so I don’t have personal experience.

Cons

Complete lack of direction or management at the mid to high levels of the company in product and engineering (most everyone left or was pushed out by cronyism from the private equity acquisition). No more equity offered to employees. No opportunities for promotion. They’ve shipped or are shipping most of the core products (including the core “sheet” aka Grid app) to India and have laid off tons of employees (somewhere between 12% and 15% of the company). Upper management did the thing where they had the US developers interview tons of people out of India, and then about half a year later laid off tons US developers, including several of the people that did the interviews. Upper management said that the India teams would be working on other projects, but clearly that was a lie. They laid off people without consulting their managers, or their manager’s managers, and without knowing what team they actually worked on or what they did. So entire teams were laid off unbeknownst to them. Very quick and poor handoffs to India, if any. You will likely be working on multiple teams at once, or moved to multiple teams during your time there in short periods of time. On-call can be a nightmare. There is no culture of any kind. Basically do not work here, whether you’re out of the US, India, or Bulgaria (the main countries for developers).

1
avatar
Smartsheet Response
4d
Thank you for your honesty. While we’re glad that you had a great team and the tools you needed, it’s incredibly tough to hear that other aspects of your experience were less than great. To your point about equity, we’d like to clarify that we do offer a limited equity pool with specific eligibility. That said, navigating transition is already tough, and adding in other aspects like global shifts and new leadership can make it feel even harder. We know the dust hasn’t completely settled, and we understand that we have a lot of work to do to repair employee trust and morale. We’ve set off on that journey, and we appreciate all of this feedback along the way. Thank you, and we wish you all the best in your next chapter.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All