Toxic processes, constant pressure, and extremely high turnover (former Criterion HCM) - Senior Scala Developer Sage Employee Review

1.0
Dec 3, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

• A few genuinely talented engineers who try to support each other. • A good example of how engineering culture should not be organized. • Some interesting technical challenges buried under dysfunctional processes.

Cons

• I worked here as a Scala developer, and the entire workflow is extremely poorly structured. • The company (formerly Criterion HCM) still relies on outdated, rigid, and toxic management practices. • Mandatory weekly calls with performance evaluations — KPIs are prioritized over meaningful engineering work. • You are required to close a certain number of tasks, regardless of their value or relevance. • Constant internal competition for tasks because your job security depends on hitting numeric targets, not delivering quality. • Very high turnover — Scala developers typically leave within 8–9 months due to burnout or layoffs. • Huge amounts of undocumented legacy code, making development slow and frustrating. • Management shows little respect for employees and treats them as replaceable. • No real technical leadership; decisions are pushed top-down without understanding the actual problems. • Invasive monitoring tools are used: the company relies on screenshot-tracking and time-tracking software like Hubstaff, which captures your screen and monitors activity throughout the day. This adds even more pressure and reduces trust to zero. • Overall, the environment is stressful, demotivating, and unsustainable.

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Sage Response
6mo
Thank you for sharing your experience. We’re sorry to hear that aspects of your time at Sage felt stressful and challenging. Your feedback around processes, KPIs, and trust is important, and we’ll ensure it’s reviewed by the relevant teams. At Sage, we aim to foster a culture of clarity and collaboration, and insights like yours help us identify areas for improvement.

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5.0
Jun 21, 2026
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Pros

Work life balance is the strongest attribute at Sage. Family matters and mental stablity is supported. Top notch benefits.

Cons

Departments with mixed roles of similar tasks, yet separate teams without collaboration.

2.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

was hired as remote and get to have that honored, but have been openly told no career progression because of remote status. decent pay

Cons

Leadership instability: Seven manager changes during my relatively short tenure. Unrealistic targets: A sales quota set at 1,100% growth (not a typo). Slow product development: Getting anything actioned on the product side takes far too long. Product management turnover: Three product manager changes, resulting in no meaningful deliverables in over three years. Misaligned hiring priorities: Greater emphasis on DEI optics than on hiring people positioned to drive growth. Internal vs. customer focus: More energy spent on internal events than on product enhancements. Lack of accountability (the biggest issue): No one takes ownership. Responsibility gets passed around constantly — for example, client cancellations going unprocessed because they impact someone's numbers. Managers have openly encouraged pushing the work onto someone else rather than handling it.

1
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Sage Response
2w
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about the challenges you’ve described around leadership continuity, targets, growth, and ways of working. We recognise the impact that stability, clear accountability, and achievable goals can have on the day-to-day experience of our colleagues, particularly within sales and customer-facing roles. We shall share your feedback with leaders for their visibility as we continue to evolve how we support our teams to truly thrive at work. If you have any additional insights to share, please leave us more feedback via our internal Always Listening forum or through your manager. Thank you again for sharing your perspective.
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