Checkout.com

I met a few good and outstanding people during my time at Checkout.com. Sadly, they have moved on to other workplaces where they were not discriminated against because of not being male, or where they had actual growth opportunities.

Where do I even begin?

It feels very often like a place that crushes your dreams. You go in optimistic and hopeful, having been sold a certain story and hype, and day by day you realize you fell for something that wasn't there.

Gender disparity is real and present, especially in Technology. There are no women in leadership positions – all the Senior Directors, for example, are male. There are no female VPs or SVPs, and there are no pathways for any of the existing female employees to get there, which leads to a very high turnover among females.

For the males, you have to be in the "Old Boys Club" to get anywhere. If you're not, you are at best ignored, unless you get let go to pay for someone else's mistakes.

The exec team are absolutely unapproachable and performative, parroting out values and principles they don't care about. I would be hard-pressed to find a situation in the past 7 years where I have seen any of them talking to the "normal" (read "not VP and over" level) willingly or naturally – unless, again, they would do it to tell you off, ridicule you, or make you feel irrelevant.

The performance review cycle is long and drawn out, and again, only the OBC members progress. That is the rule everyone learns sooner or later. If you care about performance ratings, don't bother joining Checkout, where "you have to be a five to get a three" and "everyone is a three".

Don't join if you hope you will have time for learning, development, or a strategy that is consistent and followed through. In all the years I have been here, that hasn't happened.

Everything you read in other reviews is true and accurate. The exec team only care about the profit the company makes, despite the never-ending stream of parroted company values, and you learn quickly that you and everyone else around you are easily replaceable.

If you're in the OBC, you might survive or thrive to some extent. If you were brought in by an exec team member, then you have a free hand to do whatever you want, and rules and legislation be damned. You can sack whoever you want, or push people out disregarding any ethics considerations or existing policies, and bring in all your buddies to form a bubble of the Old Boys Club for your area.

Salaries are average for most employees, although discussions with colleagues revealed men do get paid better than women.

Benefits are laughable and very poor compared to similar companies, and they ignore most of the employee feedback/needs. Employee surveys of any kind land in a black hole; they are never acted on again, and essentially, like the CEO said – if you don't like it, you can leave. You have to admit at least he was honest about it and didn't pretend he cared about people.

What's the point? It's quite clear they don't care about what anyone else has to say.