Canonical reviews

3.2

49% would recommend to a friend

(440 total reviews)

Mark Shuttleworth

40% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

Canonical has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 440 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Canonical 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

440 reviews
1.0
Oct 5, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I had the opportunity to work with some incredibly smart, well-education, and interesting coworkers, which was one of the major highlights of my experience. The company also offers great opportunities for international travel, which can be a plus for those looking to expand their global experience. Additionally, the brand is well-known in the developer world, which can be a significant boost for your resume.

Cons

For a company that positions itself as technical, the work was surprisingly lacking in technical depth. The environment is neither psychologically safe nor inclusive, with management showing little trust in its employees. Performance management is driven by tighter and tighter margins, leading to a high-pressure atmosphere that takes a toll on morale. Success often hinges more on navigating office politics than on actual performance, which makes the workplace more stressful and undermines meritocracy. Despite being an open-source company, it operates with a rigid, corporate structure that contradicts the collaborative and transparent values typically associated with open-source culture.

2.0
May 10, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing people throughout. There are tons of people to learn from and collaborate with. Remote-first company gives great flexibility. Interesting projects to work on. Opensource-oriented company.

Cons

There are some truly terrible managers in the company. Changing teams/roles at the company is very difficult if you get into a scenario where you're not thriving where you are. Abusive peer review system that leads to punishment for employees who receive positive reviews Mark "The Dragon" Shuttleworth enjoys the pain of those around him. His DM picture being a dragon shows his immaturity and lack of respect for the people he employs.

avatar
Canonical Response
2y
It is always great to read the positive reviews about our culture. We are totally committed to inviting the best and brightest people to be part of our journey to foster a culture of collaboration and achievement. This not only brings huge trust in each other but endless opportunities to learn and achieve the exceptional. We work hard to ensure that our globally remote environment is effective whilst offering people the chance to be part of our story regardless of location. It is disappointing to read your thoughts on our management team. As I am sure you are aware we are in the process of hiring a team to help advance our leadership skills which shows our commitment to this. Managing people in a culture of high performance is hard. Our 360 process brings real insight into the performance of our people and allows a well rounded view to be collected from teams of people. We also launched the ability to view and apply for roles internally last year to ensure these opportunities are transparent. As with many organisations, an internal move does require a good standard of performance in the current role to enable the move. We would like to wish you the best of luck with your next role and onward career journey.
2.0
Jul 1, 2020

Great People & Bad CEO

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work from home and great people

Cons

CEO is rude and unprofessional, he takes pleasure in insulting people in front of their peers. This drives talented people away which is why Canonical never quite reaches its potential. The diversity discussion was difficult, so they just cancelled them.

Viewing 16 - 18 of 440 Reviews

Glassdoor has 510 Canonical reviews submitted anonymously by Canonical employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Canonical is right for you.