Fall from grace - Senior Engineer Xero Employee Review

2.0
Jun 11, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture has been declining over 4 years, but was very good to begin with so is still ahead of the curve on balance. Lots of excellent engineers remain despite the comprehensive failure of HR and management.

Cons

Completely lost their way technically, brought in non technical management, and turned into a happy joy fest echo chamber. Cringe worthy. Was one of the best employers in NZ but rapidly declined through arrogance of management and failure to appreciate engineering talent. After huge investment in grads, complete failure to appreciate their contributions led to becoming a development farm where other NZ business reaped the rewards of our labour. Rod always said he wanted it to be the last place we'd ever work, and that was legitimately tenable, but the subsequent decline destroyed this.

Explore other reviews about Xero

5.0
Apr 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great culture and solid benefits

Cons

Could be a bit chaotic at times

1
1.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Xero has a great product and a lot of very passionate employees who work very hard for their customers.

Cons

The executive leadership at Xero is creating a toxic, backstabbing culture that promotes yes-men at the expense of honest dialogue. It's impossible to make decisions at the company, and multiple rounds of layoffs are leaving all employees shell shocked and fearful. Marketing teams are under-resourced while more demands are constantly being placed on teams to do more. When constraints are communicated, employees are blamed for them, rather that listened to. Multiple colleagues have said the same thing. Additionally, management has instituted a 'rank and yank' policy where everyone is graded on a forced curve, where the bottom quarter are immediately put on a PIP.

7
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All