“senior engineers” with no fundamentals - Senior Software Engineer Smartsheet Employee Review

1.0
9 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There is currently a work-from-home policy, but since the acquisition, conditions have been steadily worsening. RSU cuts have already occurred, resulting in a significant hit to employees’ salaries, and I’ve seen Glassdoor comments from people reporting they were asked to work in a hybrid model during interviews.

Cons

The company has senior engineers roles without a strong computer science foundation. Many are proficient in one language and AWS but show gaps in core fundamentals(OOP, design patterns, SLI/SLO/SLA, and Big-O analysis, etc). Technical discussions frequently stall on basics, and time is lost debating first principles with people whose skills align more with mid-level roles. Decision-making tends to favor title over demonstrated expertise. If someone has “senior” in their title, their view often prevails even when the reasoning is weak. Management engagement is inconsistent; managers rarely intervene in meetings and can be out of touch with day-to-day team dynamics. Confidence often outweighs correctness. Persuasive, buzzword-heavy arguments get traction under the banner of “diversity of opinions,” even when they lack technical rigor. This dynamic disproportionately hurts capable non-senior engineers: promotions slip when they raise valid objections or are less assertive in meetings. The result is repeated poor decisions, declining morale, and a noticeable drop in service quality.

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Smartsheet Response
8mo
We appreciate your feedback. While our flexible working policy may vary by role and country, we are committed to maintaining competitive compensation. As we’ve transitioned to private equity, we now provide different incentives to ensure our packages remain highly competitive. To your concerns about our senior engineers and management, we value your insights and want to assure you that we are committed to upholding high standards. We expect all of our engineers to maintain a strong technical foundation, and are continually working to improve our systems for decision-making and recognition. Additionally, our Talent Management team has a robust review process designed to ensure fair and timely recognition for all employees, including promotions. We appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.

Explore other reviews about Smartsheet

5.0
11 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great collaborative environment and competitive

Cons

Easily overwhelmed with phone calls, chats, and emails.

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Smartsheet Response
1w
We're so happy to hear that you're happy here! Collaboration with a healthy dose of competition is always great to hear, thank you for your review!
1.0
26 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Supportive of AI tooling. I had a great manager. I heard the severance packages are great, but I left of my own volition, so I don’t have personal experience.

Cons

Complete lack of direction or management at the mid to high levels of the company in product and engineering (most everyone left or was pushed out by cronyism from the private equity acquisition). No more equity offered to employees. No opportunities for promotion. They’ve shipped or are shipping most of the core products (including the core “sheet” aka Grid app) to India and have laid off tons of employees (somewhere between 12% and 15% of the company). Upper management did the thing where they had the US developers interview tons of people out of India, and then about half a year later laid off tons US developers, including several of the people that did the interviews. Upper management said that the India teams would be working on other projects, but clearly that was a lie. They laid off people without consulting their managers, or their manager’s managers, and without knowing what team they actually worked on or what they did. So entire teams were laid off unbeknownst to them. Very quick and poor handoffs to India, if any. You will likely be working on multiple teams at once, or moved to multiple teams during your time there in short periods of time. On-call can be a nightmare. There is no culture of any kind. Basically do not work here, whether you’re out of the US, India, or Bulgaria (the main countries for developers).

1
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Smartsheet Response
3w
Thank you for your honesty. While we’re glad that you had a great team and the tools you needed, it’s incredibly tough to hear that other aspects of your experience were less than great. To your point about equity, we’d like to clarify that we do offer a limited equity pool with specific eligibility. That said, navigating transition is already tough, and adding in other aspects like global shifts and new leadership can make it feel even harder. We know the dust hasn’t completely settled, and we understand that we have a lot of work to do to repair employee trust and morale. We’ve set off on that journey, and we appreciate all of this feedback along the way. Thank you, and we wish you all the best in your next chapter.
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