Pros: - Good people on my team - Free lunch - Office has showers

Cons: When I joined almost a year ago, the company was expanding rapidly and there was an energy about the place. In short, it felt like we were winning. A few months ago there was a screeching U-turn and the focus switched to aggressive cost cutting (in spite of a very recent capital raise). I actually don't think that this is the cause of the issues outlined, but it has certainly laid them more starkly (when the tide is out, you can see who's been swimming naked - think that works here). The response to this will undoubtedly be "blah blah blah market conditions", but much of the below has always been true and many other companies aren't doing the same. Specific issues: * The management team has fostered the sort of 'us' and 'them' culture you see in large companies, with little in the way of benefits. * Pay feels well short of industry standards. In assessing the market, I would say that up to a 50% increase would be possible, and a number of my team have experienced the same. * When discussing progression, I have had (and heard of) conversations along the lines of "I think you should get it and you deserve it but leadership are capping this atm". Computer says no!! * Unsurprisingly, there is now open talk of interviewing and exit strategies within my team - even in front of the managers. Based on my experience during after-work conversations, my team is not unique in this front. Not ideal for morale! * There has been very little in the way of recent pay rises in spite of the existing underpay and inflation levels. * Only 24 days holiday per year. * Equity options are a bit of a joke. Strike price is at the value of the last raise (hugely overvalued), and even getting this felt like drawing blood out of a stone. Most startups offer actual equity (or options with a negligible strike price), and even FTSE100 companies do the £125 per month with them matching thing... Much of the above would be bad, but possibly tolerable. However, we have to endure periodic calls with the leadership team where they stand on a stage and dish out a lovely little dose of patronisation just to rub it all in. The CEO says things like "peace and strength", and the people team person nods in a way that she probably thinks looks concerned and empathetic. If they literally said, "We're paying you as little as we think we can get away with and offering hardly any equity because it will make us more money," I'd at least have some respect for them!

Pros: - Good salary. They also offer a generous bonus at the end of the year, which is rare in this industry. - Tech stack is very interesting. You're gonna learn a lot of infrastructure as well as AI and data engineering if you end up in a good team. - People are very smart and in general very motivated. If you enjoy building cool stuff, this is the place to go.

Cons: - No flexibility in their hybrid policy: If you join Checkout, you must come 3 days per week in the office. There are some exceptions, i.e., if you are sick or for extraordinary causes. I really feel this policy hurts more than helps; most of the talent are going to competitors precisely for this reason, and for work/life balance, this is pretty bad. - Mandatory out-of-hours on-call. It is quite generous (50% of your hourly salary), however, if you are in a team with a lot of incidents (i.e., core teams), get yourself prepared. If you get an offer, make sure it's not a critical team to avoid this. - Perks are not really perks: they come as a deduction from your salary. For example, private health insurance. You need to sacrifice ~£100/month to get this "perk", as well as others, which I found a bit ridiculous. - The free lunches are terrible. Sorry, but it is the truth. I would suggest management radically change the free lunches approach and either offer vouchers to employees or a self-service catering like other tech companies do.

Pros: If you're lucky enough to be part of a team in the e-teams' good graces, you have the chance to tackle some interesting problems. Many smart engineers, though not all, are a pleasure to work with; a competitive culture is seemingly encouraged due to stack ranking.

Cons: - Boys club: promotions are based off of who you know rather than what you do. - Given the layoffs and reorgs, WLB has taken a massive hit to fill the gaps. - Morale hit from various layoffs and reorgs still lingers and doesn't seem to be getting any better. - Career progression outside of the boys club is nigh impossible; the best you can do is a lateral move if it's even possible. - Inconsistencies in promotion criteria across teams, even though roles are supposedly normalized across the company.