Kind people, good product - Software Engineer Gusto Employee Review

5.0
11 Sept 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The culture at Gusto has been crafted very well. Culture comes from the beginning of a company and the people that started it. I can tell today that those folks (Josh, Eddie, Tomer) are quite kind and have their heads on straight. I feel confident in the direction of the company and about its longevity. Leadership is transparent about the decisions they make and so I don't ever feel like I'm left in the dark about the way the organization is run. I work on things that I believe have high positive impact for regular people that use the product. For example, one of my teammates is working on PPP loan forgiveness. We've also worked on making employee payments faster, thereby reducing the time money is tied up in the financial pipes and increasing the time it stays in employer's bank accounts.

Cons

Gusto has the same technical problems that any medium/large company has. Giant codebase, complex code, cruft, old practices, and a development experience that isn't fast. I don't think anything has been mismanaged for things to get to this point, technically. I'm also encouraged by the company's reaction to these problems - I see the organization moving in the right direction.

Explore other reviews about Gusto

5.0
10 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Smart and friendly coworkers. Excellent team culture

Cons

Tunnel visions on AI a bit too much

2.0
20 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The product is genuinely good, too bad the same can’t be said for how they treat the people who sell it.

Cons

Leadership talks a big game about people-first culture but the reality doesn’t match. The Chicago office expansion felt like a poorly thought-out experiment, new hires were brought on without a clear long-term commitment, and layoffs came without warning, leaving people blindsided. Crossing a billion dollars in revenue and still cutting employees sends a clear message about where workers rank on the priority list. Remote work flexibility is also a glaring weakness. For a company selling HR software to modern businesses, their internal stance on where employees can work is surprisingly rigid and hypocritical. The “flexibility” messaging is mostly optics. The broader concern is the AI roadmap. The automation push feels less like an innovation strategy and more like a slow wind-down of the workforce. Employees aren’t blind to it, it creates anxiety and erodes trust. The culture of transparency they promote externally is largely a facade internally.

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