Great Culture is no longer a tradeoff for Low Pay - Anonymous employee BambooHR Employee Review

3.0
21 Mar 2022
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

During my time at Bamboo I grew immensely as a professional. I was trusted with high-impact initiatives, given exposure to executive leadership, and learned much about the inner workings of the business. I was surrounded by phenomenal colleagues who were sharp, driven, and humble. All-around wonderful humans who made my day-to-day work a joy. Bamboo felt like a values-driven organization, and I saw the company values used to make decisions large and small. Work-life balance was prioritized, and I felt like I was empowered to do the right things, the right way. Benefits like 401k match, low healthcare premiums, a decent PTO plan, and paid-paid vacation were all nice elements in the total compensation package.

Cons

Unfortunately, Bamboo’s approach to base compensation is struggling to compete with market norms. Their comp strategy is based on a workplace climate about a decade old — where people were leaving toxic jobs and taking pay cuts in favor of a positive culture. But the market has changed. Bamboo’s positive culture is no longer rare, especially with tech companies touting unmatched culture exploding across Silicon Slopes. People don’t just want it all; they can go get it all — the values-driven work, the positive culture, the fantastic coworkers/management, AND a competitive salary. Especially as the future of remote work evolves, Bamboo must learn to compete with national and global companies. The company is seeing increased rates of turnover, all citing low pay as their reason for leaving. Some real comp data to illustrate my point: Software Engineer (BambooHR > new company, same job duties/title) ~$110k to ~$160k Systems Admin (BambooHR > new company, same job duties, different title) ~$65k to ~ $120k Operations Manager (BambooHR > new company, same job duties/title) ~$90k to ~$120k Project Manager (BambooHR > new company, same job duties, Senior title) ~$85k to ~$115k I’ve seen comments from industry experts in this extremely hot job market stating “if you’re basing your comp strategy on available data sources, you’re already pricing yourself out of the market. Inflation and salaries are increasing at a rate that available data can’t accurately reflect.” In addition to comp structure, Bamboo didn’t invest early enough in critical infrastructure like Operations or Data Engineering, and they’re now dealing with major resource constraints in those areas as the company tries to scale. I also saw numerous signs (some from direct interactions with the CEO) that indicated Bamboo was experiencing a cultural shift that treats frontline employees more like numbers than people. Toward the end of my tenure there, I came out of meetings that had me wondering, “do I really want to be part of where Bamboo is going?”

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BambooHR Response
4y
Hi there! Thanks for sharing your feedback. We’re glad you enjoyed your time at Bamboo and felt trusted and given the support to grow professionally. We consistently hear that great co-workers are an immeasurable asset at BambooHR. We agree that compensation is and will always be important. Businesses everywhere are experiencing unprecedented times of market volatility, remote work, and economic disruptions. We won’t speak directly to some of the points you pose but we are confident in how we approach great work, including pay, and we see proof of that as we continue to grow. It’s very rewarding to be part of a company that cares about its people. We recognize that some may choose to pursue other opportunities and we wish them, and you, success in their new professional endeavors. We continue to grow with additional great talent joining our team every day. And …. if you know any great Data Engineers, send them our way. We are continuing to grow that team at BambooHR!

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5.0
10 June 2026
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Pros

BambooHR is a great place to work with outstanding people.

Cons

BambooHR is focusing heavily on AI, which can come at the expense of jobs.

1.0
18 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If you’re complacent with being told what to do and are OK with the pay, you will be OK working here

Cons

There might not be enough space for what I have to say. Management is full of narcissist. Little to no accountability or responsibility from management. Management job is supposed to be helping the team and supporting them and learning the job which they extremely lack in. If you are OK with having someone tell you how to do your job that doesn’t know how to do your job then, you’re in luck. When the team was failing to hit quota, their solution was to keep it the same while calling the BDR‘s complacent. Management also failed to recognize that reps were obtaining quota only through going to events. A work colleague of mine gave feedback in a meeting and was later criticized for providing feedback. After that meeting, he was told not to speak up in a meeting like that. Yet they say they welcome feedback. Management finds time to do things that don’t benefit the team or add extra task to their plate. The organization also loves pointless meetings that can be summarized in two short sentences. My last piece is that the team has a mutual feeling about management and suckers up to them because they are playing the . Bamboo fails to recognize their weaknesses and if they managed to succeed, I would be impressed with how it’s been ran.

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