WillowTree reviews

Willowtree in its current state is a pretty rough place to work. You as a developer are treated like a number on a piece of paper (a resource). As a senior you are typically staffed on projects with only Juniors, so if you need help or want to grow, good luck. Projects are also pretty rough, Willowtree management is has a "Toxic positivity" attitude and will continuous not escalate issues to clients/upper management in fear they are going to lose their job or not get promoted, causing product planning issues, communication issues, impossible deadlines, low morale, and overworking among the whole team. On top of all this, as a senior, you are paid roughly 30% below market, and the past two years they have not done cost of living adjustments. I have coworkers who haven't had a raise in at least 2 years. They are now ignoring any comp related issues, letting good talent leave, and backfilling developers through Brazil and India, the latter causing immense time zone problems, often having to wake up extremely early to hand hold teams in India. If you are a prospective employee reading this, I would suggest going to another agency.

Everything from Day 1 until I resigned was awful. My salary was 30k under the market, but during my interview, I was sold on the idea that WillowTree is a best-in-class culture and place to work. Onboarding was a joke, especially for remote folks—which was the experience that only continued throughout my tenure. There was a clear class system between folks who were in office (preferred) to remote (treated more like a burden or left over from the pandemic than an actual part of the company.) Early on, I remember TD (CEO) shooting down survey feedback that there was a culture problem because "[he] is the culture." That was the first warning sign that the promises from the interview process were not likely true. The culture is overwhelmingly one of blatant biases, closed-mindedness, and the worst top-heavy leadership culture I've encountered in my career. All input, decision-making, and support lies with people managers and up—including growth and development opportunities. Individual contributors are relegated to executing poorly defined ideas and abstract goals that are not grounded in any semblance of reality. Disagreement is encouraged on paper but actively punished in practice—especially if coming from the bottom of the organization. At no time was meaningful support offered. The only efforts made to improve the situation were obvious in their aim to minimize liability by the company or leadership. The mission was always to preserve the ego of the executives and the perception of our parent company and increase shareholder value. Not the mission of improving folks' lives through technology. If you're looking for an internship or a role straight out of undergrad, perhaps this is a place to get some experience. But I cannot recommend that anyone should seriously consider working for WillowTree (a Telus International Company.)