A very poor career experience - Anonymous employee Zynga Employee Review

1.0
May 11, 2011
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pace (but see below); reach (millions of users - for now)

Cons

* No sense of company direction; Zynga cannot come up with a strategy to overcome the fact that it is entirely dependent on Facebook. * It is a loose collection of "studios" with little or no sharing of resources between them, resulting in serious inefficiency. * Disingenuousness is pervasive and seeps down all the way from the very top. * Zynga is not a meritocratic organization. Pettiness, paranoia, fear and back-stabbing win the day; those who "play the game" float to the top. * One of the company values is something called "Zynga Speed", which means accepting that quality will be sacrificed and long hours will be expected, over and over again. For employees aged over 25 this means your years of experience in your field will be routinely ignored; just to get the job done, you will be expected to abandon just about every principle you have learned as a skilled professional. * Deadlines are arbitrary and extremely aggressive, yet in some cases slip by several months as strategies change on a whim at the top level. * Expect to find yourself micromanaged by someone much less skilled than you, and who also has no skills in management. * A large proportion of the employees are in their first job and are treated like slaves; they will stay there until they burn out and discover a life outside Zynga. This is challenging for experienced people as the same is expected of them too. * Seasoned workers are open and vocal about their dissatisfaction with working there (read other Glassdoor reviews for confirmation). * The "no vacation policy" sounds good on the face of it, but basically it means your manager will decide not to let you take time off. * The games themselves are of dubious value. Do you want to believe in your company's products?

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

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All