Abstract Reviews

3.8

65% would recommend to a friend

(54 total reviews)
avatar

Kelly Watkins

80% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Abstract has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 54 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Abstract employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

54 reviews
2.0
7 May 2020

Another Broken, Basic, SF Tech Company - DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Remote culture means no commuting, and more flexibility to manage your time - Nice people for the most part (minus a bad apple or two) - I liked my manager and my team - Good healthcare coverage - Unlimited PTO (if you can manage to take enough vacation) - The People team (none of them are there anymore) really cared about you as an individual

Cons

- CEO said "we're not laying off" then proceeded to lay off roughly 25-30% of the company (and this was PRE-COVID). The vast majority of those affected by layoffs are people of color. Yet the execs talked about how much they cared about creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Check all the various Abstract blog posts on said topic, but don't believe it. - Complete and utter lack of vision in 2019 and leading into 2020 left many people trying to figure these things out on their own - There were so many issues with the product while I was there and nothing was being done about it. Why was Eng Leadership not accountable for this? - Losing many customers to Figma

avatar
Abstract Response
5y
Thank you for sharing your experience. After bringing on a new CEO and executive leadership team, our first priority was listening to our customers and our team in order to focus our vision and goals for the next 18 months. We’re actively working to create a workplace where people feel valued and included from application to onboarding, and beyond. We recognize we have work to do to make Abstract a place where people can do their best work, and we’re committed to putting our learnings to work.
1.0
4 Apr 2020

Beware - Smoke and Mirrors

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote culture / distributed / work-life balance There have been some rockstars that have worked here and tried to make a real difference but were taken for granted Excellent pay and solid benefits

Cons

The founders have no idea how to lead and are a constant roadblock One co-founder, in particular, is more concerned with being friends with employees that he has blinders and fails to lead, act or execute The founders are obsessed with being kind which translates to being overly emotional and tolerant of behaviors that go against the core values Extremely toxic environment due to lack of leadership and favoritism The executive team are inexperienced and biased and are often the root of confusion and drama Diversity and inclusion was said to be a priority yet the majority of people of color have been terminated. The website is inaccurate, outdated and misleading Many are unhappy with the new direction or leadership changes It says something when many of the former employees response to being laid off was relief that they could continue their job search openly without having to be discrete. The writing has been on the wall for months now and with new leadership people will continue to leave this company behind Extremely low morale and low trust of leadership both old and new but many were are least hopeful with the former CEO Interim leader is very robotic and lacks the compassion and warmth that resonated with employees with the previous leader The entire people team was let go which were all people of color The company values are just words that the leadership team should first hold themselves to ** FUTURE HIRES: Seek advice from past and present employees if considering an offer here **

avatar
Abstract Response
5y
We’ve been listening and actively putting feedback into practice. By bringing on a new executive team, our goal was to establish strong leadership and direction to evolve Abstract’s product and ensure we’re meeting our customers’ needs while empowering our team to do their best work.
1.0
10 Jun 2020

Used to be great, now it's terrible

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Good base salary (no bonuses, no 401k match) - Pays 100% of health care (vision, dental, medical) - Flexibility & unlimited time off - Lots of smart people willing to mentors - Great product to work on - Lots of interesting challenges and lots of things to learn, there is no time to get bored (in a good way), as long as you get something to work on. - Tech debts are being taken care of, sometimes slowly, but people care about it.

Cons

- A high number of employees are feeling depressed and are thinking about leaving. We raised this issue to the Exec team, who said: "You don't have to be like that, just focus on being happy and you'll be happy". - We have highly skilled and sometimes even critical team members leaving on a weekly basis. I don't recall having a single week without someone leaving since February. The execs think this is a non-issue. - A lot of people feel like the company will either be out of business by EOY or that we'll have another major layoff in 3 to 6 months. - No visions from the execs, nobody really knows what to work on (it's been like this since February), and it seems that it will continue this way until September / EOY. - D&I is not a thing anymore and according to the execs, D&I is a luxury for companies that can afford it. - Since the pre-COVID layoff all the management and execs left. This led to several bad actors playing politics and lying their way to the top, trying to get promotions and raises by messing up with the company's culture, and stabbing their coworkers in the back. - Since February, we haven't had a single week without bad news. The exec team tells us not to worry, and then double down on the bad news. - This is yet another company where people don't get what they deserved and opportunities are not given based on skills and track records but on who you're friend with, and how hard you are willing to fight. Many skilled people got promotions by being forced to say "either I get one or I leave". - I've seen amazing and talented people leaving because they were harassed or oppressed by other people, and the bad actors NEVER get in any trouble with HR or the management, even when MANY people report them.

avatar
Abstract Response
5y
Thanks for sharing your experience. We know that Abstract has undergone a lot of change in a short period of time. In April 2020, we introduced a new CEO and many new executives. In short order, we updated our company values, product roadmap, strategic plan, and completed a job architecture exercise to ensure equity across the organization and aligning our roles and compensation philosophy with a comparable set of companies similar in stages of growth and size . We are revamping all hiring, onboarding, and assessment tools and methodologies to ensure equitable hiring and promotion processes. We’ve also established an internal, employee-led inclusion counsel to address what our employees believe to be important and urgent issues we want to tackle together. As a fast-growing startup, we’ve learned a lot about what worked and didn’t work in 2019 and we’re actively taking action to chart a new course.
Viewing 1 - 3 of 54 Reviews

Glassdoor has 74 Abstract reviews submitted anonymously by Abstract employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Abstract is right for you.