Nice place to work, BUT Stack ranking ouch - Senior Manager Software Engineering Capital One Employee Review

4.0
Mar 28, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's a nice place with tons of perks, and I loved them. WLB, is said a lot, but if you take advantage of it your rating will drop and stack ranking will bite you.

Cons

You have to stack rank your staff. So as a manager, you need to always hire someone that will be cut. So unlike other places, if you do a good job as a manager all of your staff should be average or above, or issues dealt with ASAP. At C1, you need those people to stick around till December, every year, that way you have someone at below average. And if you don't, then you are tagged as below average for having an above average team.

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.

4
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