Avalara reviews

3.1

49% would recommend to a friend

(1,567 total reviews)
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Hugo Sarrazin

55% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Avalara has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 1,567 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Avalara employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
2.0
Sep 28, 2014

Not terrible, work elsewhere if you can

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

BBQs during the summer, subsided bus passes, nice coworkers (obviously depends which department you work), easy work and very laid back environment. Stock options are a nice bonus. Unless you're in a department like sales/account management where you have to hit certain goals, you pretty much have to be a complete moron to get fired (this can be a con also).

Cons

Benefits and pay are below industry standards. No 401k match. Stock options take forever to vest, if you are lucky enough to receive them. Most departments do not receive bonuses or pay raises (I know one employee who has been with the company for 8+ years and has had the same salary for 4+ years), and performance reviews are a joke. Nepotism is rampant. Upper management will pick favorites and then continually promote those people, despite the fact that they are completely unsuited for the roles. Relatives and friends are also hired and given preferential treatment. For the majority of employees, you'll be working on Bainbridge Island, which adds an hour each way to your commute. I know quite a few people that want to transfer to the Seattle office, but space is limited and most end up stuck on Bainbridge. Middle management, while nice people for the most part, are generally unsuited for their roles. This goes back to the nepotism comment above. Your coworkers are typically just there to get a paycheck and/or experience, and most are looking for better jobs. Avalara asks hew hires to write them favorable reviews on Glassdoor, which is why most of the reviews here are quite positive. If you are thinking of working at Avalara, I would definitely take time to read through the reviews, it should be pretty easy to recognize which ones were written by people that literally just started working here. Before HR started asking new hires to do so, the company's ratings were considerably worse (which is why HR started asking in the first place).

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Avalara Response
11y
I am sorry that you did not have a good experience with us. I did want to clear up some inconsistencies in your email and our practices. We do have an annual review process and merit is based on performance. We encourage all of our employees to share their feedback on Glassdoor because so many of our new hires tell us that they found it helpful. We want people to have a realist view of our company and our employees can provide that…this is what we encourage. Based on internal survey results and our thriving culture, most employees truly enjoy working here. Lastly, our strongest referrals come from our employees and we do encourage that, whether they are friends, former co-workers, relatives or neighbors. First and foremost, we look for people that will thrive and contribute to our culture. There is a reason our employees wear Orange with pride and make the commute to Bainbridge Island every day to be part of our Company. We do wish you well in your future employment.
3.0
Sep 28, 2014

Could possible grow

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Overall they make sure their employees are happy and taken care. There is the option to move up and into what you are interested in doing and they will support you to grow on the different levels.

Cons

That being said Inside Sales, you are not given a lot of guidance and co-workers are unhappy more often then not. If you have cold called before you would do well, but if not it can be frustrating and you are not considered really part of the company.

1.0
Sep 10, 2014

Be Skeptic

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If lucky free food in the kitchen.

Cons

When you got a company telling you to post positive reviews on Glassdoor- that says something. (look at all the dates of postings- they are when they do new hire orientations) No real management. No direction. Your expected to put long long hours and be happy about it.. They love the saying work hard play hard but should be really called work hard and work harder. Very political. If you are different and dont fit , they will let you know it. Very very clicky especially at upper management level. I think the first week comment i got is the best way to sum it up - "if you dont get yelled or discouraged remarks for the first month there- you doing ok"

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Avalara Response
11y
Just to be clear, the company absolutely DOES encourage employees to post reviews on Glassdoor, but our only direction is to be honest. We have a great culture and a great company and we're proud to have employees share their experience. We think that will shine through in the reviews. We would also add one small addition to your statement that this is a company where people work hard and hours can be long. That is true...we are constantly driving for improvement and the work is demanding. At the same time, we have a lot of laughs and enjoy our co-workers, which makes for a nice balance for most people.
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