SoFi

1. Feedback is valued so much that it's practically compulsory.

2. The company "lives" by its core values. They don't feel like hollow ideals we never deliver on. My favorite is: "Do the right thing. If you’re not sure, do the harder thing."

3. Surprisingly less evil than most finance companies, with a focus on member success. When I was in a customer "facing" role, I always felt like advocating for the consumer was both welcome and desired.

4. In the last few years, the company has shifted to a strong emphasis on employee development and internal promotion. I have two hours of paid time per month to work on external skills training (formerly Udemy, now through LinkedIn).

5. The CEO has placed a focus on developing excellent corporate culture from day one (early 2018).

6. Medical benefits are above average. Other myriad benefits are available with varying cost reductions, but the free Gympass (now Wellhub) membership and discounts for family members are a nice bonus.

7. DEI is strong in multiple ways. SoFi accommodated my disability with no fuss or pushback, and there was no underhanded reprisal like being flagged as a "problem employee" who needs to be "managed out of the business" with excessive criticism and documentation of every possible perceived failure. I cannot emphasize enough how valuable that is.

8. Depending on your location and role, many positions are fully remote or on a 2:3 hybrid, including low-level operations employees.

9. Unless in a rigidly scheduled role, like customer "facing" roles, schedules are very flexible when needed. I've split my shift for a medical appointment on several occasions.

10. Good amount of PTO for hourly employees with modest increases every year to year 6 (I believe). Exempt (salaried) employees have essentially unlimited PTO within reason, as long as business continuity is maintained.

11. SoFi recognizes that good ideas come from all levels. First-hand insight is valued and appropriately escalated to stakeholders. That's not true for many companies, where lower-tier employees are essentially told to leave thinking to the almighty middle management.

1. Feedback is valued so much that it's practically compulsory. I don't always have something to say, but I feel more or less forced to think of something for the quarterly surveys, even if it's relatively inconsequential.

2. The average cost of living in my city has outpaced my wages by ~6% over the last 4 years, while my rent alone has gone up ~11.67% while remaining below the median.

3. Slow downsizing followed by COVID resulted in the closure of the CA operations office. Although this means I'm now fully remote (which is nice), advancement opportunities are significantly limited by location requirements, which is discouraging. This could be a factor for new hires who are fully remote.

4. There's rapidly increased outsourcing of lower operations roles, particularly customer service. The company insists onshore jobs are secure, but it's very hard to trust that completely.

5. In spite of a focus on employee development, additional training in my role has been sparse. There are very good reasons for this, not the least of which is upheaval caused by promoting from within (which is a good thing overall). However, it is still an opportunity for improvement.

6. No 401k match, and I haven't received RSU's since my original grant when hired, all of which vested years ago. This is probably not true for employees outside support roles, but I don't really know.

Criticisms aside, I think management is doing a great job, overall.

1. I understand employee engagement and satisfaction are most easily measured by surveys and survey participation, but insisting everyone participates in an "optional" survey tells you less, and worse, potentially tells you the wrong things. You'll receive junk responses that have to be sifted through, resulting in wasted staff hours. Many will be indistinguishable from honest feedback, simply for appearances. There will also be false positive answers from people who don't want to actually engage with the task; all ratings 5/5 with no substance. Additionally, measuring how many people fail to participate is also a key metric for employee engagement and satisfaction. More or less demanding feedback doesn't work in your favor.

2. Please reassess how you reassess non-exempt wages. I know we have someone monitoring fair market wages in all locations, and while I can't speak for others, I don't feel like it's worked for me. I'm being forced by economic pressure into looking for openings with other companies that might compensate me more generously, and I don't want to. I really don't want to. I absolutely love working at SoFi, but my hand is being forced, and I don't think I'll be able to resist the financial tide much longer.

3. Though the 2 hours paid self-guided training is very much appreciated, it is not enough to make any new knowledge really stick. This can be overcome by employees continuing these courses off the clock, which is fine, but without setting that expectation, I do not believe the company is getting a good ROI. I believe that either providing slightly more paid hours more frequently or specifically encouraging employees to finish courses outside scheduled hours will lead to better outcomes. In either case, a low-cost incentive for completed courses might be a good idea, but particularly in the latter.