I joined Picarro expecting a better product-company experience, but I left within few months because the environment was too chaotic and draining.
The core issue was senior management setting deadlines without understanding the actual effort required, then forcing teams to somehow deliver at any cost. Instead of support, what you mostly get is pressure. Once leadership commits a date, the burden falls completely on employees, no matter how unrealistic it is.
Working hours were terrible. On many weeks, 3 to 4 days could easily stretch from 9 in the morning to 2 or 3 at night. At the same time, there was office attendance pressure as well, which made things even more frustrating. You were basically expected to keep working everywhere — office, home, late night — and then come back again the next day with almost no recovery.
Weekends were frequently affected because of last-minute management commitments and deadlines that suddenly became urgent. There was a constant fire-fighting mode, last-minute pushes, and deployment pressure.
What made it worse was the number of people constantly breathing down your neck. It was not limited to your own manager. Other teams’ managers and higher-level managers would also get involved, and the whole thing felt like an escalation game instead of proper leadership. Too many people applying pressure, very few actually helping.
For me, this was not challenging in a good way. It was simply unhealthy and unsustainable. Unless someone is okay sacrificing personal life and peace of mind for constant deadline pressure, I would not recommend this place.