Culture is not what is marketed or used to be - Engineering Manager Spotify Employee Review

1.0
4 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The global footprint and tech concerns that comes with the large user base are interesting. Lots of talented engineers. 23+5 paid days off in the US.

Cons

The culture is far from what it used to be. It used to be exciting, encouraging, can-do attitude and agile. Today, it's all top-down, employees have no say, there are no growth paths, full waterfall process, leaders breathing down your neck all the time. Compliancy to meaningless bureaucratic processes is more important than focusing on the work itself. There is no trust that people will do a great job. Top leaders do not listen or care about the employees, great and reasonable ideas are constantly squashed. The fear-based leadership style is prevalent. HR is completely disconnected from all of this and the work on the ground. Compensation is below market average with the excuse that people should stay for the cause and not the money.

Explore other reviews about Spotify

5.0
29 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great perks and worked with incredibly smart people

Cons

frequent team re-orgs, causing disruption in workflow

1
5.0
14 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It has started moving much faster than in prior years and there's a lot of emphasis on moving fast through AI. The culture is still pretty fun and it feels like you're working for a fun product

Cons

Spotify, as an app, is trying to find out what the next ten years look like for them. Right now leadership is experimenting with different directions and features so expect ambiguity and changing of scope and orgs

1
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