Pros
This was a good company years ago but the company culture has been drastically degrading. They offer decent healthcare and paid time off. If you're a friend, family member or a former business associate of an executive a VP or a manager then you have great job security and preferential treatment. Some of the satellite offices are filled with 80+% of these kinds of protected employees, a bit unsettling if you're not one of them. Management throws out catchy phrases like "ask for forgiveness not permission" but don't tell you that it only applies to the protected employees and that all others can be easily fired the moment they question anything or step out of line in any way. The company has decent branding of its products but competitors are starting to catch up. Marketing works very hard to constantly find and bury any negative feedback about the company and it's products. So there's a constant churn of new naive employees, some of whom can survive if they don't ask questions, don't make any suggestions and follow orders unquestionably. The company has lured quite a few investors into believing in the value and vision painted by the company so there's a decent amount of funding for the lavish parties and special "business" trips taken by management (and strategic alliance managers) with their certain strategic partners.
Cons
Don’t be misled by the ‘seemingly’ high rating of both the company and the CEO on Glassdoor. There are good companies out there that truly care about their employees. Avalara (at the time of this review) is currently not one of them. Sort the reviews by the "Rating" and you'll see a consistent pattern. - The company does not care about the employees but misleads them into thinking that their opinions actually matter. - Heavy cronyism and protectionism of friends, family & former business associates of: executives, VPs and managers. Employees that are in this category have great job security without having to perform. - Even mid-level managers have carte blanche to fire employees without question or repercussions from upper management or HR. - The constant churn (hiring and firing) of employees causes very low morale on some teams. There's a constant ebb and flow of low morale moving across various teams at all times. - Customer experience during implementation process has been mediocre at times. - Customers have mentioned their dissatisfaction with the support and the customer service and would switch to a competitive solution if there were better options. - Unclear "rules of engagement across teams and departments" causes turmoil and confusion regarding duties, responsibilities and (for the sales teams) who should work various leads. - Certain midlevel managers don't see the value of having the reseller channel and have voiced their vision of a completely direct sales model in the future. - Reseller channels are fed-up with the company being so aggressive and have been flocking to alternative solutions.
