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Synapse Product Development

Is this your company?

Mayday mayday! This ship's going down! - Anonymous employee Synapse Product Development Employee Review

3.0
Mar 24, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some people at Synapse work really hard to make it a good place to work. There are a lot of very smart people to learn from, and there is a culture to encourage that learning (this is seen the most in the mechanical engineering department, but also in others to a lesser extent). If you're into booze - there is no shortage of that here. Most people are pretty friendly and open. Lots of very athletic people if you're into that. Benefits package is pretty good for a small company.

Cons

Job instability. Two layoffs within one year. The future is looking very bleak. HR can be heavy handed in dealing with off color things. As an example - one specific word was censored repeatedly from the internal wiki. In another incident, a coworker was reprimanded for a mildly off color joke. The culture can be very cliquey. Promotions are fairly random and haphazard - more about who likes you rather than what you can do for the company. Management structure changes on a weekly basis. Leadership tries to promote a company "culture" - but almost all of that culture died off between the layoffs and the massive increase in size of the company, so at this point it just feels painfully forced.

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Synapse Product Development Response
12y
Your pros really tell the story of how great Synapsters are and how Synapse encourages all to be their best. Regarding your cons, multiple layoffs in one year are excruciatingly hard for everyone. The decision is not made lightly and only after looking at all other options. To let go of our friends and colleagues is terribly tragic but was necessary in order for the health of our business. With a culture of freedom to express oneself comes with risks of offending others. HR has the responsibility of ensuring the culture does not condone off color jokes and language that offends others and makes them feel unwelcome. We encourage creativity and expression but they are lines that any business cannot cross. I like to think we do a great job balancing risk with fun. Thanks for your feedback. Know we are working very hard to address these concerns.

Explore other reviews about Synapse Product Development

5.0
Oct 31, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

My 4.5 years at Synapse offered a lot of growth and the chance to work with many amazing people. The culture is down-to-earth, humble, kind, and ambitious. People in the SF office (and Seattle, too, although I worked in SF) put a lot of effort into making it a fun place to work. Pros were variety in the types of projects and clients, and mostly meaningful work. You usually have a say in what projects you work on (or don't work on). For engineers, the skill progression is well-thought out and measured, and there's a good emphasis on engineering consulting skills as well. My managers were always attentive, eager to make sure I had what I needed, and challenged me in the best ways. On a day-to-day basis, it feels like you're part of a smaller company than you actually are in terms of impact and personal connection, which I liked. In my experience, leadership cares a lot about what employees value. I valued that my contributions to work outside of project work (employee groups, organizing events and initiatives, and writing articles for company blog) were recognized.

Cons

Sometimes there's the feast-or-famine side of project work because of being a consultancy. Being part of Capgemini Invent does help to smooth that out. That brings me to the other downside, which is that in the final 6 months to year of my time there, the Capgemini integration was happening, and some systems and processes were starting to feel more corporate (which I personally didn't like).

1
4.0
Sep 12, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good company culture, does feel like a little family. Pretty flexible start times, and remote vs in person flexibility, as long as you are getting your stuff done.

Cons

There isn't much to do if there's no work coming in Doesn't feel as collaborative as it could be with Seattle office

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