What happened? - Anonymous employee HackerOne Employee Review

3.0
Feb 20, 2021
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Brilliant CEO who makes himself available and is transparent Cool product, amazing mission and passionate people here Incredibly talented workforce - you can learn a lot Great pay and benefits

Cons

Toxic jerks throughout that are given a pass on their behavior because they’re seen as essential to the business even if they kill morale. Certain departments are incredibly cliquey. Essential departments have been left empty or groups have left in droves because of the toxicity. Poor work-life balance - try to make it up for it with half-day Wednesdays but that doesn’t help when slacks are still going off at midnight and everything needs to be done “ASAP.” Some may say this is common in start ups. I disagree. Some folks will have an opinion about how you should do your job, instead of focusing on theirs and it doesn’t come from a good place. There is a heavy push for D&I but the majority of the people who leave are the diverse candidates - didn’t feel psychologically safe.

Explore other reviews about HackerOne

5.0
May 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Very clear interview process and onboarding steps. -Great benefits.

Cons

None that I can think of.

2.0
Jan 8, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The coworkers are genuinely amazing: smart, kind, and deeply supportive. Many people truly care about doing the right thing and helping each other succeed. - The mission is meaningful. Supporting the global community of ethical hackers is powerful, and the work has real impact on improving security across the internet.

Cons

- Since the arrival of the new CEO, nearly the entire C-suite has been replaced in under a year. This has created an environment of fear, risk aversion, and excessive CYA behavior. - HackerOne used to value transparency and open dialogue. “An honest question gets an honest answer” was more than a motto—it was lived. Today, people are afraid to ask honest questions, and answers are often vague corporate speak rather than real explanations. - A new AI engineer role was created with a pay band roughly 40% higher than existing software engineers. In practice, some software engineers are doing the same work for significantly less pay, which has caused frustration and morale issues. - The company once had a strong, people-first culture. That culture has eroded to the point where layoffs have occurred while employees were on maternity leave. - A newly hired VP in engineering focused on AI appears more interested in empire-building and optics with the C-suite than in empowering teams. Accountability is demanded without corresponding agency, and blame is often pushed downward when decisions don’t work out.

17
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All