New Relic

The engineering team remains strong, with genuinely talented people who you work with daily. Work-life balance is reasonable. That said, even the best talent appears to be actively considering leaving the company.

The company's stated culture doesn't translate into practice. Genuine mentoring is largely absent, and when it does occur, it often feels motivated by personal satisfaction rather than team development—efforts focused on the broader team rather than individual units tend to go unrecognized.

Engineering career progression is severely limited. Promotions within the Barcelona office are particularly difficult to secure, and the situation deteriorates significantly at senior levels and beyond. Most employees now enter the Barcelona office already at a senior level, making advancement even more challenging. Salaries remain stagnant with minimal yearly increases, and there is no meaningful bonus or equity plan—particularly limiting now that the company is owned by private equity.

The organization has excessive processes and too many management layers, which frequently creates bottlenecks. Initiatives often lack clear ownership until late in execution, making progress slow. Most obstacles stem from the internal management hierarchy rather than external constraints.

Over the past few years, the company has undergone a notable cultural shift—moving away from being engineering-driven, then manager-driven, and now increasingly GTM-driven. This trajectory has noticeably impacted how the organization prioritizes and operates.

The company should simplify its pricing model and prioritize delivered value and product quality over sales tactics. It needs to move away from constantly chasing competitors and reclaim its own strategic mission. Addressing the talent retention crisis would require concurrent action: introducing sub-levels in career progression, fixing salary stagnation, and bringing in strong product leadership—either a CEO or CPO with genuine product orientation and vision. These changes would likely reduce churn and enable the company to execute on its strategic mission.