High expectations, sad experience - Financial Procedure Writer Upgrade Employee Review

1.0
Feb 26, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The campus in DT Phoenix is pretty cool. Lots of snacks, lots of perks. Health care is great as well. Seems to be a lot of great people there as well who care about their work.

Cons

To keep things high level: -Onboarding is non-existent. When I was hired I was told I would have to do a lot of self-learning and ask questions. I’m ok with that but the systems in place to facilitate this are non-existent. This put me in a position quickly where I was struggling to get the basic information I needed to do my job. -Telecommuting - To be clear I understood when I took the job that there was an expectation of four days in office, with Fridays working at home. However the recruiter initially indicated there was some flexibility. While partially true, I found that it was deeply frowned upon not being in office. My job had no interaction with other people for the most part, and exclusively worked online. While I didn’t mind coming into office, the occasional additional remote day without scrutiny and punishment would have been ideal. Life happens, let your employees be adults and trust them to get their job done. -Management - My managers for my specific team had a pretty sharp disconnect from me. I often felt like a burden or a hassle. This was about confirmed when I resigned. Management on all teams seem to be poor at delegating. My managers took on far too much on their plate and as a result things like true people management just got lost in the mix. Why guide your new hire when you can get more face time with the SVP? Ultimately Upgrade desperately wants to be a modern Fintech Startup but operates in some pretty old school ways. Couple that with leadership that is overworked and uninvolved with their end line employees, and I opted to leave after 4 months. I would not call this environment toxic, simply disorganized. I am at a point in my career where I want to find a place to grow, and I was not confident that would ever be the case here.

Explore other reviews about Upgrade

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great amenities like snacks and stuff

Cons

Collections is a soul crushing job

4.0
Jun 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* The company provides free snacks in the office, which is a great perk for daily productivity. * Frequent company-wide events help foster a strong sense of community and team bonding. * The relaxed dress code allows employees to wear casual clothes, contributing to a comfortable and welcoming workplace environment. Elaboration: Mentioning these specific perks highlights a positive company culture that prioritizes employee well-being and comfort. When writing a Glassdoor review, these details are highly valuable to job seekers because they speak to the "day-to-day" experience of the role. Highlighting the balance between professional expectations and casual, social benefits creates a well-rounded picture of what it is like to be part of the team, suggesting that management values both morale and employee satisfaction.

Cons

The work environment is heavily defined by excessive micromanagement that stifles independent problem-solving. Communication is fragmented, as everyone provides different answers to the same questions, leading to constant confusion and redundant tasks. Furthermore, the internal culture is cutthroat; people are frequently willing to sabotage or "screw over" colleagues just to gain a minor personal advantage, which creates a deep lack of trust throughout the office. Advice for management: Management needs to establish a unified standard operating procedure to stop the conflicting information being disseminated to staff. Additionally, leadership should address the toxic "every person for themselves" mentality by fostering a culture that rewards teamwork rather than individual gain at the expense of others. Reducing the level of constant oversight would also empower employees to be more productive and engaged in their actual responsibilities.

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