Management couldn't be worse - Software Engineer Smartsheet Employee Review

1.0
31 Jan 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Not much really. I'd run away as soon as possible.

Cons

I have had three different managers in less than a year, not only because of reorganisations, which is the first sign of unskilled management. My team, and I personally, have suffered the consequences of this bad management. While we find a new manager, the person that has temporarily been stepping in couldn't be more of a bully, eg. telling me that I'm to blame for decisions he took, even after I vouched for a different thing, or denying that a conversation took place just because there was nothing written down after it. To add to that, the levels of micromanagement are really high. My previous managers didn't do this so much, but right now I have to justify what I'm working on every half day, even if it's a one-line code change, and give status updates in writing every few hours. In this setting, it's nigh impossible to get anything done. The worst part is that you can't raise any of these things to HR or upper management, because they don't do anything about it.

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Smartsheet Response
2y
Thank you for taking the time to share your candid feedback. We take allegations of this nature very seriously and I’d like to learn more. If you’ve moved on from Smartsheet, I encourage you to reach out to people@smartsheet.com to discuss your experience, otherwise, please reach out to your People Business Partner or me directly. I want to emphasize that our commitment to employees' well-being and growth is unwavering, and your feedback will help us learn and adapt as we continue to work together. Thank you again and I hope we hear from you. – Praerit Garg, Chief Product Officer and EVP of Engineering.

Explore other reviews about Smartsheet

5.0
3 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Time schedule was very good for work

Cons

Employees were okay i like them

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Smartsheet Response
2d
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
26 May 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
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Smartsheet Response
2d
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.
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