Benefitfocus Software Developer reviews

3.9

93% would recommend to a friend

(28 total reviews)
avatar

Andrew Frend

100% approve of CEO

93% positive business outlook

Software Developer employees have rated Benefitfocus with 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 28 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Developer professionals have a good working experience there. Benefitfocus is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Developer professionals compared to other employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

28 reviews
2.0
Apr 7, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This is a good place to start off as an entry level software engineer. It was a great place to solidify what I learned in college. They do offer some nice perks but that only goes so far.

Cons

BF puts a ridiculous amount of workload on its engineers. Our contract say 40 hour weeks, but somehow management expects 45 hours on the timesheet. Management expects us to work late and on weekends for promises made to clients without the input from engineering--all for below average pay and limited opportunities.

1.0
Oct 16, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you're young and single, there are a lot of other young single people there to meet. The work area is pretty open air instead of enclosed offices if you like that kind of thing. There are pockets within departments where it's fairly insulated from the harebrained things going on, but you may not be in one. They're pretty forgiving if you come in late or leave early, provided your time sheet adds up to about 45 hours. There is free Starbucks coffee, fresh fruit (apples really), and 20oz sodas of all kinds for $0.25 in all the vending machines. As an engineer you can spend one day a month working on basically anything you want, even if it's only sorta related to anything at work. Every quarter there is an "Engineering Summit" where they have a decent speaker come in and give a talk and they give out some engineer appreciation awards to a handful of people and $100 cash. Takes up half a workday, and is pretty decent.

Cons

As a software engineer you'll be expected to work 45 hours a week without any any additional compensation. Not comp time, not additional pay, and not even thanks. The CEO is determined to grow the company by 30% per year to attract investors for when they inevitably go public. Due to the overwork and rush jobs required to grow at that rate, by the time they do go public, you won't want anything to do with any of the products. No one outside of engineering is held accountable for anything. The lowest ranking (and lowest paid) folks on the business side are allowed to commit the company to anything and everything. Including delivery dates for features or fixes that they do not even understand. Then the fact that they set the expectation with the client is used as a whip to force engineering to do whatever is necessary to deliver on their commitments. Sales will say or do anything to close a deal, and it's engineering that has to deliver on it, but engineers do not receive bonuses as a rule. Design by authority is the norm. That is, the CTO or chief architect will dictate the vast overarching direction and products to use, even when every single engineer is in agreement that it's a bad idea. As an engineer you'll be required to fill out detailed timesheets that while initially spun as a way to schedule things, is now used to enforce de facto 45 hour work weeks. Nobody else has to do them. The referral bonuses are pathetic compared to other software companies in the area. They don't value their employees enough, or treat them like people, but rather as interchangeable parts.

1.0
Sep 30, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is a good place to get your feet wet as a Software Developer. Also, I believe that you don't know what's good until you've seen the bad. So this is a good place to see the bad. On the other hand, if you can play the game, this is a good company to squeeze. Show them you're worth it and then threaten to quit -- you'll get some nice salary increases if you're worth it. At least they are smart enough to try to hold on to talent. Too bad they wait until you're ready to walk before they start to listen.

Cons

Sales driven development. High high! turnover! Low morale. Clueless management. The sales guy would go out and sell anything (I mean anything to clients). If the client wanted a time machine he would have told them we could do it and expected us to write it! During my tenure there, we had four bosses come and go in as many months.

Viewing 25 - 27 of 28 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,094 Benefitfocus reviews submitted anonymously by Benefitfocus employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Benefitfocus is right for you.