Weird performance review. Copy a lot of bad habits from Amazon. - Senior Software Engineer Capital One Employee Review

2.0
Nov 17, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My perspectives as a software engineer working for Capital One: - Use very good and modern software stacks, whatever the latest AWS has, Capital One has it. Capital One is one of the top customers of AWS, so AWS always try to sell the latest and greatest whatever they have to Capital One, so you can rest-assure that you are on top of cloud technology when working for this company - They have one of the best security practices of any companies I have ever since. They were hacked in the past, and severely scared of ever being hacked again.

Cons

Their performance review is a variation of "stack ranking", Jack Welch style (look it up). Performance done every 6 months, and they usually let go around 10-15% of a team/group per year through this method. Attrition is astronomical, even within the company (there are a lot of job changes within the engineering organizations). I have seen directors (both engineering and products) being let go through this process. Even managers will jump when he sensed he/his groups are in peril, I myself had 5 different managers just within less than 2 years. Ask yourself if you want to work for a job that your own manager is not looking out for you and will jump at any opportunities. There are no quarterly or half a year planning or OKRs whatsoever, just weird PowerPoint presentation of what you did in the half year, and they stack ranked against your peers. If you are the quiet types, you will be on the chopping block sooner or later. Oh, did I say they copy Amazon a lot? They are a big customer of Amazon, they are hiring managers/directors from Amazon and these Amazon people bring the same culture to Capital One, and I'm not sure if I like this.

Explore other reviews about Capital One

5.0
Jul 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent work life balance good insurance

Cons

Managers can vary wildly and pip cycle is brutal

2.0
Jul 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Salary, benefits, mobility for internal transfers

Cons

I have been a part of Capital One for more than 20 years, most of my career. It was an exciting growth culture in the early years. Our team culture was very strong. People looked out for each other and worked toward a collective good. Around 2019 a shift began in leadership. Politics became more important and forced distribution, stack ranking, and performance management targets became more prevalent. When the pandemic hit, it broke the strong in person culture of this company. Many left for the lure of FAANG and other companies offering remote work for promotion and higher pay. It was a chance to jump the line and come back later. In the meantime COF hired people who tired of the relentless pace of Amazon, Google, and other tech companies. We also hired in big bank culture of JPM Chase and Goldman. This has resulted in a toxic, political, cutthroat culture with constant reorgs. I’m planning to leave this organization in the next 12 months. It is sad what it has become. I know tenured leaders, great people who look out for others and have helped me succeed over the years, who are miserable here. DFS colleagues from the acquisition are leaving in droves.

5
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