Bandwidth reviews

3.8

66% would recommend to a friend

(462 total reviews)
avatar

David Morken

71% approve of CEO

63% positive business outlook

Bandwidth has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 462 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Bandwidth employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

462 reviews
3.0
Mar 6, 2013

There's Good and Bad

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits covered by company. Fun outings to try and boost morale. Great and smart employees doing a lot of hard work. Your coworkers make this place what it is, not the people running the show. The culture has brought in a lot of smart and talented fun people who create an environment that will keep you sane amongst the chaos. The CEO is a great guy, who truly does care about his employees in the end and wants to make a difference with the products he has.

Cons

Your experience at Bandwidth is really going to based on which division you work for. I started in Phonebooth and ended up in Republic, which is why I went from loving my job to wanting to leave it. I had 7 different bosses in a year and a half. Luckily my last boss was really great, but by the time she became my boss I was already so frustrated with this place that it didn't matter. When I left I was pretty much doing meaningless work to get stuff out the door in ridiculous timeframes. The organization and structure was just not there. I never really got time to put for true effort on anything because it was a constant fire drill on any project small or large. There is no project management either, so you'll find yourself managing up others on their own projects just to get stuff done. A lot of things get launched before they should, this is apparent in customer service complaints and frustrations from customers on the forum, websites, etc.  At the end of the day, poor planning exists and you'll find it in your every day duties as well as in the products themselves. There's EVP, SVP, and VP's of just about everything you can think of. They hire too much upper level people to fuel 400 different ideas noone can stick to instead of hiring the proper people to actually execute it. It creates work overload for a lot of people causing them to give up a lot of the work-life balance the company boasts so much about. I had to work part of every vacation in the 2 years because resources were scarce or proper planning was just nonexistant. There are a lot of friends of friends of friends in upper management, so its intimidating to ever have to file a complaint. Most people don't because who wants to complain about someones best man, or high school friend of someone else, or a long-term previous coworker of another. I've seen people get fired for a few mistakes where people who made more get a slap on the hand because they're friends with the manager. I know a lot of people in other divisions who are happy. I know just as many people in those divisions who are unhappy. It really does come down to where you are at the company, and what section you work in as to your experience. It could be a fun company to work for again if they just got some structure in place. Things can be "fast paced" yet organized to where people have direction and goals that are actually obtainable.

2.0
Feb 17, 2013

Not as good as it once was or could be

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You can still tell there is a heart in this company that once fostered creativity. From that, great products were conceived by brilliant people who cared about real innovation.

Cons

Things are changing rapidly at this company, almost too rapidly. There is a general lack of focus due to inexperienced leaders playing at running a business rather than actually doing so. Many have risen through the executive ranks at a rapid pace due to playing the game well though they fundamentally lack the experience to run the company. Over the past 2 years I have watched as great leaders are ousted while their mediocre bosses remain. Often these terrible bosses are friends having met at previous employers or while in college. This "inner circle" protects the worst of the pack. Due to this the once family friendly and people focused organization is now shifted into a place where workaholics are rewarded by an executive team who lack basic human management skills. They have high expectations for everyone but when they mess up they either point a finger or sweep it under the rug. The sad part is that this does not at all reflect the management style of the CEO, who by all accounts is a kind, caring and intelligent man. Unfortunately he appears to have attracted a rather unsavory group of hangers on in recent years. I sincerely hope the promise of riches is worth it for him in the end.

5.0
Oct 28, 2012

Bandwidth is one of the best jobs I've ever had

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I’ve been with Bandwidth for a year now, and it’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. It’s invigorating to come to work each day. I work with some very smart people in an exciting, fast-paced environment. We’re working on some really cool stuff and literally changing an entire industry. I have found Bandwidth to be a very bold company that is not afraid to take risks. We have a lot of very passionate people who really believe in the company. I love that we’re small enough to be agile and able to pivot quickly. I love sitting in meetings and feeling like everyone in the room is smarter than me. I’m learning every single day! And I love the fact that management actually listens. My manager values my opinion. He may not always agree, but he always listens. I’ve worked for a lot of other companies – in Raleigh and beyond, and have never worked for a place that cares so much about employees. I was sick last year and the compassion shown to me by my boss, co-workers and upper management was amazing. They work hard to make sure you have balance in your life. My boss kicks me out at 6 pm to spend time with family. They pay 100% of insurance for me and my family and give me 90 minutes at lunch to work out. I’ve never worked with a company that offered that to employees. Some have said it’s a Boys Club. Any tech company is going to have a lot of male employees. I see a lot of women around the office, and I know that we have several women in management and executive level positions. My experience has been drastically different than some of the reviews posted on this site. I’m not doubting the validity of what some posted, just saying that I have not experienced any of that. It’s possible that Bandwidth has some weak links in middle management in parts in the company. Those people could be impacting the overall experience for employees under them. That’s unfortunate, because it really is a great company. I encourage employees to go beyond their manager, and talk to the CEO if they have issues. He will listen to you.

Cons

The fast paced, innovative culture is not for everyone. I love it, but some employees get stressed out and can’t produce in that environment. The company is hiring fast and they need to slow down to be sure employees are a good fit. Otherwise you end up with some negative, bitter employees who spend their days complaining. We need better management training throughout the company.

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Glassdoor has 497 Bandwidth reviews submitted anonymously by Bandwidth employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Bandwidth is right for you.