Great culture, amazing people, inspiring vision - Anonymous employee Gusto Employee Review

5.0
Oct 20, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture and people are a priority at the company, and it really shows. Employees are cheerful and engaged at work, despite the fact that the core tasks around payroll, benefits, and HR do not always seem sexy (though they are much more fun and interesting than they seem on the surface). The company vision is to create a world where work empowers a better life, which is very motivating for those who are looking for a fulfilling job at a tech company. Gusto emphasizes doing the right thing, which is reflecting in how the company has been built - prioritizing the customer experience and creating a simple and delightful product. It is really fun to celebrate Gusto customers, and to feel like you're helping a baker in middle America pursue their dream, for example. Management believes in empowering employees, so there is a lot of room to run with projects and new ideas. As the company grows, there are new teams and roles opening up, which is great for career development. Transparency is a core value, and all employees get a tremendous amount of information about how the company is doing.

Cons

Since Gusto's product is critical to the customer's business, the company can't "move fast and break things," which can be one of the most fun things about working at a early stage tech company. Everything must work from day 1 for payroll and benefits. As the company has grown quickly, operations have gotten strained, but management takes feedback well and has made adjustments to put Gusto in a position to scale.

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Gusto Response
9y
The positive outlook on your journey thus far is wonderful to hear about and a true testament to the individuals who make up the Gusto community. We are working to create a world where work empowers a better life not only for our customers, as well as for our employees. We are fortunate to experience this together. As you have feedback, please continue to let us know what we can do to help teams and bring Gusto to new heights.

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Pros

Smart and friendly coworkers. Excellent team culture

Cons

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2.0
May 20, 2026
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Pros

The product is genuinely good, too bad the same can’t be said for how they treat the people who sell it.

Cons

Leadership talks a big game about people-first culture but the reality doesn’t match. The Chicago office expansion felt like a poorly thought-out experiment, new hires were brought on without a clear long-term commitment, and layoffs came without warning, leaving people blindsided. Crossing a billion dollars in revenue and still cutting employees sends a clear message about where workers rank on the priority list. Remote work flexibility is also a glaring weakness. For a company selling HR software to modern businesses, their internal stance on where employees can work is surprisingly rigid and hypocritical. The “flexibility” messaging is mostly optics. The broader concern is the AI roadmap. The automation push feels less like an innovation strategy and more like a slow wind-down of the workforce. Employees aren’t blind to it, it creates anxiety and erodes trust. The culture of transparency they promote externally is largely a facade internally.

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