Slow promotion and rewarding system - Software Engineer Ciena Employee Review

3.0
Nov 25, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The culture of the company is great! People are nice and have professional attitude. The company has some good packages and benefits.

Cons

The salary is not competetive. And the rewarding and promotion system is very slow. It doesn't matter how hard you work or how much pressure you successfully handle; they make some excuses to not give you a raise and it causes losing motivation after a year or so. On the other hand, it is an excellent place for carefree people who are used to working no more than an hour a day!!! I work about 11 hrs a day handling multiple difficult tasks in my level of experience and they have no other one to replace if I leave the team but they are very hard on me when it comes to promotion. I have no motivation to continue like this after 1.5 yr of working.

Explore other reviews about Ciena

5.0
Jul 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people who work well together across company silos. Good pay, especially with stock performing well.

Cons

Extremely low attrition (~2% annually) leaves a workforce that is very experienced at Ciena. Unfortunately, this means high resistance to change and low awareness of industry best practices. Low attrition also leads to minimal opportunities for job growth.

3.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good work life balance, good environment

Cons

Pay is not competitive, very less stock options.

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