Meta

Strong engineering culture (when it works): Meta still attracts very strong engineers. Code quality expectations are high, reviews are rigorous, and you're often working with people who really know their craft. There's a strong emphasis on impact, ownership, and moving fast.

Compensation & benefits: Pay is very competitive, especially at mid-to-senior levels. Base + bonus + RSUs are hard to beat, and benefits (healthcare, parental leave, perks) are top-tier.

Scale & impact: Few places give you the chance to work on systems used by billions of people. If you enjoy large-scale distributed systems, performance optimisation, or product experimentation at massive scale, Meta delivers.

Developer tooling: Internal tooling, infra, and observability are generally excellent. You can ship fast without constantly fighting the platform.

Internal mobility: It's relatively easy to switch teams compared to many big tech companies, which helps if your first team isn't a great fit.

• Performance-driven to a fault: The culture is intensely metrics- and performance-oriented. This can be motivating, but it also creates pressure, internal competition, and anxiety—especially during performance cycles.
• Frequent reorgs & shifting priorities: Strategy changes fast. Projects can be deprioritized or killed abruptly, which can feel demoralizing after months of work.
• Work-life balance depends heavily on team: Some teams are sustainable; others expect long hours and constant availability. The variance is high.
• Politics at higher levels: As you move up, impact is less about pure engineering and more about visibility, narrative, and alignment with leadership priorities.
• Layoff aftershocks: Trust took a hit after multiple rounds of layoffs. Even high performers may feel less job security than in the past.