Another company using “Culture” taglines to suck you in - Dedicated Support Gusto Employee Review

2.0
Mar 13, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There’s not a single pro about this company.

Cons

Let’s start from the beginning where hiring, onboarding, and training began. Their recruiters are not at all knowledge of the roles they are even recruiting for. What they explain to you and provide you detail with about your job role is so far from what the actual positions are. This goes for several teams. Before training starts they bring in the culture team to hype up how incredibly inclusive the company is with all their infinity groups that you aren’t even able to participate in due to the demands of the role. Training was an absolute joke. First of all the initial amount of individuals in the onboarding and training class was just over 90. Slowly dwindled through the weeks. They preyed on Apple employees specifically again with their widespread of false info on culture and a healthy work life balance. The training was long and drawn out with no room to really ask questions or to fall behind because of how large the training groups were. Many were not prepared and were very vocal about it as well when asked for feedback. Most of us were lead to believe it was a customer service role when in reality it was more than that. We had to serve companies in regards to taxes and payroll when more than 75% of that new hire class has never dealt with payroll or taxes on that level. Not to mention the backlog of angry and escalated customers that we had to deal with and be verbally abused by daily. The managers or “People Empowers” aren’t even trained on the actual support side of things so we could not even rely on them for support when needed. There was a small team of captains that were available to assist and support hundreds of us and to say they were burnt out is an understatement. Now let’s get to the part where myself and many others were failed by the lack of communication and culture from the company. Due to the stress that came with the workload my mental health was at an all time low and after many talks with my doctors, therapist, and psychiatrist it was decided to request workplace accommodations. I was asked to have all my paperwork submitted to HR within 10 days of my initial request. After a month and no followup I found I was pregnant so I once again reached out for a follow up and to disclose my pregnancy. At this point the workload was so godawful and the schedule and role changes with no warnings took me to the point where I had 2 seizures triggered from the stress. My manager was aware and we communicated very clearly. They were my only advocate and fought to get HR to help for months. Finally after 3 months HR followed up with temporary workplace accommodations that only had in place for 2.5 days. I had 0 protection for my pregnancy when it came to doctors appointments or follow ups with my neurologist after my seizures. I had to reexplain to several different individuals in HR was was going on over the course of those 3 months with nothing being done. On my final day after realizing the company did not give a care in the world about myself or any other employee I reached out to the HR person handling my case along with my manager and they literally ghosted us. They didn’t reply in any form of communication that we tried. The moment my manager and I spoke about my options and me resigning an HR person was immediately in contact with me with no issue. I’ve never been so disgusted, disappointed, or outraged by how incredibly awful their representation of the company is vs what really goes on behind closed doors. Me being as naive as i was in the midst of the situation I was too afraid to speak up more than I have. I would not recommend this company to anyone. Especially woman, neurodivergents, or POC.

Explore other reviews about Gusto

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Smart and friendly coworkers. Excellent team culture

Cons

Tunnel visions on AI a bit too much

2.0
May 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

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.

9
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