Why Would Anybody with Any Skills or Experience Want to Work Here Now? - Software Engineer Zynga Employee Review

1.0
Dec 3, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Free lunch and dinner -Can bring dogs to work -Pre-IPO (although if you joined after 2009 you won't get much) -Gain large-scale web application experience -Lots of free beer -Opportunity to network with some pretty smart people

Cons

-Anybody that joined after April 2011 are all misinformed and will get peanuts for equity. In fact, if you joined after December of 09, you have missed out on several stock splits already. Stock might be single digits per share. -No automatic annual pay increase, so you better level up if you want your salary to go up. -Very fast pace with a lot of internal competition. -People are pushed to the max with aggressive deadlines, but employees often don't believe in the products they are working day and night to deliver. -Incompetent managers -Company spends money like crazy, but no necessarily to the liking of the mass. -The whole culture is very stressful with little in terms of nurturing the right type of employee motivation. -Terrible work life balance -No free parking around building -Very unprofessional HR department -Actively slashing employees -Hack jobs instead of good designs often rule the day -*******WILL KILL YOUR SOCIAL LIFE!!!******** -First company going public to have mainly RSU. Management is screwing over employees big time in terms of equity value, but few actually realize this. Issuing RSU and deducting 40% for tax reasons is essentially the company forcing employees to sell stocks back to the company at a price that the company determines.

Explore other reviews about Zynga

5.0
Jun 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing Company - people are great, the work is fun, and everyone is happy to be here.

Cons

None. fun company, good people.

2.0
Jul 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Working at a leader in the mobile gaming industry is a huge plus on your resume. Plus, having the opportunity to work in gaming is fun. - Collaborating with some of the most smartest, creative and innovative people in the gaming/tech space - It's a great opportunity to learn mobile gaming and hone your skillset. Zynga has a strong inclusive culture and it can be very welcoming initially. You should always be learning at every stage of your career and you can definitely do so at the company - You can connect with some really cool people

Cons

- Pay was slightly below average and not always congruent/1:1 to your skillset and experience - Limited opportunities and typical corporate rhetoric/structure holds the company back from the next levels of success. Once you realize that you have no one really advocating for you to move up and or take on more responsibilities, you have to be honest about your future at the company. - Some management/teammates are egoistical and passive aggressive in their behavior towards certain employees and clear favoritism is shown. - The relationship you have with your manager will make or break your career, which is frustrating. If you have a manager that will look out for you/advocacte your career, you'll do fine. If you don't, you're stuck

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