Going through a rough patch - Senior Software Engineer Cloudera Employee Review

3.0
Jan 22, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Cloudera has excellent work/life balance * The product is awesome and almost everything is open source * Big data is used to stop fraud, save lives, and generate billions of dollars of value in the world - it is definitely a "make the world a better place" type job

Cons

* After the merger between CLDR and HWX, things are not going well. Politics are everywhere, legacy Clouderans are fleeing in droves, wall street has no clue what Cloudera is really worth, and compared to just a year ago, it is very difficult to trust upper management has a handle on things. * After leaving, people are not getting backfilled quickly enough, leading to serious resourcing problems. This creates a negative feedback loop and more people leaving. Also, no, you cannot move *all* of those roles to Budapest or India, that is not the same thing. * Career growth is difficult unless you are an absolute rockstar that rises above everyone around you. * Under-investment in infrastructure and tooling * Acts like a company 1/4 their size or less, very weak on cross-company tools or processes. * Hasn't yet figured out how to coordinate across GEOs in different time zones effectively.

Explore other reviews about Cloudera

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone is willing to help and wants to see you succeed Lots of opportunities to grow within the company/organization Flexible work/life balance Strong Technology

Cons

Multiple platforms - troubling at first to balance between them all, but after some time it is a breeze.

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Cloudera Response
4d
Thank you for the 5-star review. We are delighted to hear that you find Cloudera to be a supportive environment with strong growth opportunities and great work-life balance. We also appreciate your feedback regarding our multiple platforms. We are glad to hear that navigation becomes smoother over time, and we are proud to have you on the team in Austin.
5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Amazing and supportive community with highly talented and approachable colleagues. * Welcoming, inclusive, and friendly culture that makes it easy to feel part of the team. * Excellent technology stack built around Apache Software Foundation projects and modern engineering practices. * Strong open-source-first mindset that promotes innovation, transparency, and collaboration. * Flexible work arrangements with the option to work from home, while office attendance is encouraged to foster collaboration and maintain a strong sense of community. * Gorgeous offices worldwide that provide an inspiring and comfortable work environment. * Plenty of opportunities to learn, grow, and work on impactful projects alongside exceptional engineers.

Cons

* The highly flexible work-from-home culture, while appreciated by many, can sometimes lead to sparsely populated offices. Employees who value face-to-face interactions and spontaneous collaboration may find it harder to build connections and discover new opportunities. * Processes and organizational structures are intentionally lightweight, but this can occasionally result in unclear ownership, shifting priorities, and coordination challenges when deadlines approach. * The strong emphasis on autonomy means teams may operate differently, which can make cross-team coordination and planning less predictable. * Communication and collaboration often require a proactive approach, especially in a distributed environment.

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Cloudera Response
4d
Thank you for your 5-star review and your eight years of dedication to Cloudera. We are glad you value our inclusive culture, open-source mindset, and talented team. We appreciate your constructive feedback on cross-team coordination and distributed collaboration. Your insights are incredibly valuable as we continue to improve our planning processes while maintaining the workplace flexibility our employees enjoy.
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