Hemorraghing development talent - Senior Software Engineer Paylocity Employee Review

Work remote. Fantastic leaders, Definitely a place I have enjoyed working.

Pay is slightly less than competitors but work life balance and culture make up for it.

Remote work remains one of the better aspects of working at Paylocity. The benefits package is solid and includes medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and ESPP offerings. The people are generally good to work with on a personal level, and many employees genuinely care about supporting their teammates and clients. However, experiences can vary significantly depending on the department and leadership team. The product is competitive in the HCM space and offers a broad range of functionality, although it often feels patchwork in certain areas and new releases can introduce unexpected issues that require additional fixes after launch. Having strong relationships with teammates can make the day-to-day experience much better, especially during periods of high workload and constant change.

The company has changed a lot over the past several years, and a lot of what used to make it a great place to work has slowly been reduced or phased out. Workloads have steadily increased while headcount and support haven’t really kept up. Most teams feel stretched pretty thin, and it’s pretty common to be juggling larger, more complex accounts with the same tools and expectations as before. A lot of the time it feels like you’re trying to keep multiple moving pieces together across both client and internal sides, just to keep things on track. The support structure has also shifted. In the past, team leads were more involved in actually helping remove blockers and getting answers when needed. That’s changed quite a bit, and now it often feels like you’re relying more on peers to figure things out because there isn’t always a clear or fast escalation path. Compensation has been a consistent frustration, especially for long-tenured and high performers. During the 2020–2024 inflation period (roughly 6–9%), many employees still saw sub-3% raises while being reminded to keep overtime down and control costs. It’s hard not to notice the gap between workload going up and pay increases staying pretty flat. In addition, some of the smaller “extras” that used to be part of the culture have been reduced over time. Things like periodic swag, small appreciation gifts, and broader team bonding events have largely gone away for individual contributors in operations. At the same time, there’s a noticeable difference in how different parts of the organization experience engagement, with sales teams still having access to more frequent events, outings, and perks. On top of that, the RSU structure for a lot of senior roles changed in 2024/2025. Stock grants that used to be part of the overall comp package were reduced or moved around, and unless someone hits an “Exceeding” rating (which only a small number of people actually do), the equity piece is pretty limited now. For some people, it effectively feels like a noticeable drop in total comp compared to prior years. Recognition overall is also not what it used to be. There are still people doing a ton of work and driving big results, but the acknowledgment or reward side doesn’t always match the impact. It’s not unusual to see big wins come and go without much formal recognition. The implementation process itself also continues to be a challenge. There can be a strong emphasis on maintaining client satisfaction and perception, sometimes at the expense of firm accountability on the client side during implementation. As a result, it can feel like expectations are not always clearly enforced upfront, and when deliverables slip on the client side, internal teams are often expected to absorb the gap and adjust timelines or outcomes to keep implementations moving forward. There’s also a bit of inconsistency in how things operate internally. Some people seem to have clearer paths and visibility than others, and it can feel like that varies a lot depending on team and relationships. At the same time, sales expectations don’t always line up cleanly with what implementation can realistically deliver, which ends up creating extra pressure when timelines or scope need to be adjusted after the deal is already done. Looking at the longer-term trend, Paylocity used to sit around a 4.2+ rating on Glassdoor years ago, and back then that actually felt accurate. Over the past several years though, sentiment has clearly shifted and the rating has dropped into the low 3s, which lines up with a lot of the changes people have experienced internally. Career growth can also feel a bit unclear depending on the team. Some people move up fine, but for others the path isn’t always obvious or consistent with performance and tenure. Overall, it just feels like more has been expected from employees over time without a matching increase in support, compensation, or recognition, and that’s probably what a lot of the feedback over the past few years is reflecting.