I could sense drastic cultural change since mid 2023. It became more and more political in Adyen. Those mid-level manager has no managerial skill at all, what they did mostly were micro-management. And you need to spend quite some time on managing upwards. That added on to normal overwork schedule just made it even more overwhelmed. The Adyen formula is a list of BS your manager could use to apply their subjective opinion to you. No matter how good you are at your role, they could just tell you are not cultural fit enough. Simply just because your manager does not like you. It was quite absurd that some manager of my colleagues were remote, but they did not even listen to what their staffs said cuz they were stubbornly believe things shall be done in their own ways.
I saw zero career growth in Adyen. No career path guideline or instruction. If you asked your manager about the criteria for advancement. They won't tell you anything, if there is , then again, something quite subjective. If they like you, they probably will help you ;if not, then you get yourself into a dead end. I think HR genuinely know what is going on but they won't do anything. These are tolerated. They probably would just tell you to have a conversation with your manager to clarify your thoughts. Here is the thing, Adyen is quite top-down. it was always your manager told you to do so, not the other way around.
I used to be proud to be a Adyener. It is quite sad to see it goes this way. So many people left, those are great people, great talents. If you are good at faction and playing political game, the current Adyen will be a good fit for you. Good platform for graduates and fresh junior. However, if you are aiming to be an individual contributors and hoping a wonderful career path within Adyen, ya'll shall read through the reviews here and think twice. You will spend most of your time in the coffee chit chat and F2F catchup , internal storytelling of how good Adyen and your team are.
