Avoid, avoid, avoid - Designer Propel Employee Review

1.0
18 Aug 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Amazing, driven people who share your same values. Immense potential for tangible impact on other's lives within the product. One of the most diverse places I've ever worked (but lay-offs disproportionately affected women and POC).

Cons

Leadership has a very skewed understanding of how product is made, and 0% understanding of the contributions of design. Design, UXR, Content were overextended across many teams, and instead of addressing root causes and properly staffing teams, Jimmy decided to lay off the entire design org, citing "inefficiency" and hard economic times. He sees UXR and design as a service and something that any PM can do. Immense bias in leadership, where incompetency is rewarded if you're a white male. One month after lay-offs, the company then turned around and posted an opening for one of the same roles that was eliminated. This was incredibly egregious given many talented employees had given their heart and soul to a demanding, mission-driven startup for years, with absolutely no prior performance issues. Business and product strategy is also going south, as 6 million DAU are becoming less engaged, and the company laid off the people who understood their needs the most. Propel is moving towards unethically profiteering off of the most vulnerable, rather than providing ethical technology for low-income Americans.

avatar
Propel Response
2y
We appreciate your passion for our users and taking the time to share your experience. Propel went through a layoff in June to better align our staffing and skill sets with the needs of the business going forward. We recognize this was a painful and jarring experience - particularly for those impacted. We’ve done our best to support impacted employees with a generous severance package of at least 10 weeks, COBRA reimbursement for up to six months, and two months of job search assistance. Serving low income Americans is why we exist. In July alone, Propel put over $1.9 million dollars back into our users pockets. Building a profitable and sustainable business is hard, but core to our ability to continue to serve our users and expand the services we’re able to offer them. Ensuring we’re able to continue to deliver on our mission sometimes requires making difficult business decisions. We recognize these moments can be painful and disruptive and will continue to do our best to support our team as a whole

Explore other reviews about Propel

5.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Mission driven company - Good compensation for the public benefits space - Strong technology base (new frameworks, easy release process) - Exciting projects and investments

Cons

- Company can be dependent on federal politics / relationships with other players in SNAP space

5.0
28 Feb 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great people: humble, mission driven, supportive, kind - Great mission: helping low income Americans make it through the month, every month. The team is very focused on user empathy and making a positive difference. - Profitable and reinvesting in growth and making a positive difference. - High autonomy, ownership & trust environment

Cons

- 10 year old code base that is being improved, but is not fully unified yet. - Sometimes can be silos; cross team collaboration is being worked on.

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