High traffic and modern tech but toxic culture and burnout - Devops Engineer Ascend Group Employee Review

1.0
3 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Massive Scale & High Traffic: You will handle millions of daily transactions. It is one of the few places in Thailand where you can experience true high-availability and extreme scalability challenges at a regional level. Modern Tech Stack: They use industry-standard tools (Kubernetes, Multi-Cloud, Terraform, GitOps). You will work directly with the stack you prefer, and your technical skills will definitely stay sharp. Work From Home (WFH) Availability: They offer WFH options, allowing you to avoid commuting and work from your own setup, which is one of the few saving graces for your personal flexibility.

Cons

Toxic Management & Cultural Issues: The management culture can be highly political, top-down, and punishing. Instead of a healthy engineering culture that promotes psychological safety, you will likely encounter blame-shifting when incidents occur. Zero Work-Life Balance: Burnout is a major risk. Due to the critical nature of the system and poor resource management, you are expected to be on-call or put in excessive hours regularly. True downtime is rare. (OT) Policy: While the company officially claims there is OT pay or compensation, the actual approval process is heavily restricted or intentionally made difficult. In reality, you end up working long hours and weekends for free under the guise of "responsibility." Volatile Leadership & Shifting Priorities: The direction from the executive/CEO level changes constantly—sometimes as often as every two weeks. This leads to wasted engineering efforts, discarded pipelines, and constant firefighting because projects are suddenly rushed or abandoned. High Pressure & Micro-management: Because executive plans change so rapidly, middle management often panics and resorts to micro-managing tasks, adding unnecessary stress to an already high-pressure environment.

Explore other reviews about Ascend Group

5.0
18 Nov 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Encouraging environment to deliver value to firm and clients with inclusive culture. Modern office space.

Cons

Office is not in CBD of Bangkok.

4.0
11 Dec 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great Experience learning many business industries

Cons

Keeping up with all the work

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