Becoming a corporate machine - Developer Xero Employee Review

2.0
Jun 27, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free drinks, etc. Work colleagues are great. Video games, and other stuff you'd expect from a modern tech company that is trying to pretend it's still a start up.

Cons

Has scaled very poorly in the past few years, and beginning to feel like a poorly managed corporate monster with ever-changing c-team. Non-competitive pay (in NZ). Lack of autonomy and constant meddling by senior execs towards development teams really defeats the purpose of #ownership. CEO constantly makes embarrassing and lout-ish comments. Comes across as very intolerant. Very poor communication between US and NZ team has led to a large amount of animosity and poor development practices.

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Xero Response
10y
Sorry to hear you feel this way and I absolutely agree any signs of being the corporate monster you describe should be quashed! Given the rate of growth we've experienced it's unavoidable that there will be times where we miss the mark, adapt and improve. I see lots of examples of great teams, communication and increasing autonomy, so am confident we're on the right track. Thanks for the feedback

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.

5
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