New ugly side - Senior Software Engineer Adobe Employee Review

1.0
Dec 21, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Been here over 8 years and had a great ride. Considered top talent and been well-compensated. Stock price has really appreciated. I've contributed to multiple new products generating $100M+ annually and a handful of new patents. As a female engineering leader I feel I've been treated equally relative to my male peers which isn't the case elsewhere. Fantastic people, excellent company culture, successful business & operating model.

Cons

The last two years have brought out a new ugly side of Adobe, unfortunately. Executive leadership is all in California resulting in insular thinking and is clearly being more open about their support of left-leaning politics. My peers in other locations feel our leaders lack awareness of different perspectives, lifestyles and experiences of employees across the United States. Being in CA myself its harder to understand this but in recent months I can see what they're talking about. Examples include Adobe's prompt action to subject itself to President Biden's ETS vaccine mandate seemingly before the ink had dried. During my team here Adobe has never, I repeat, NEVER been a front-runner on any issues involving difficult decisions and significant change... but rather we conservatively and prudently wait to see what other major tech players do along with the consequences, and then follow suit or act differently if appropriate. In the case of ETS, many other tech companies and large employers are waiting for this controversial issue to play out in the courts and ultimately the Supreme Court before imposing what can be such a life/career-changing requirement on their employees. But contrary to the Adobe I've grown to love, it feels its appropriate to force all employees - remote or not - to vaccination NOW regardless of current and future court outcomes. And another example: occasionally, we deliberately 'over-rotate' with our diversity and inclusion efforts resulting in obvious reverse discrimination in our hiring practices and development opportunities, but leadership casually sweeps it under the rug. Its painful to write such a review about a company with 9 great things to every 1 drawback, but these drawbacks are inexcusable and SO uncharacteristic of our Adobe-4-All mantra.

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5.0
Jun 26, 2026
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Pros

Good benefits Treated well Sabbatical Policy

Cons

Large Sometimes bloated Political Manager dependent

4.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Refreshing focus on employee wellness * Brilliant colleagues * Compelling problems on interesting tools * Good work/life balance culture... generally (see cons) I've been at a few big tech companies and Adobe is one of my favorites. I feel empowered to make impactful changes here, I'm constantly stretching myself in fun ways, and the products we make are incredible. Product and engineering have big dreams, and all the resources we need to realize them.

Cons

* Big time crunch culture around arbitrary goals By far my biggest disappointment has been just how hard product pushes on big projects with arbitrary deadlines and difficult scope. It turns into cutting corners and delivering sub-par experiences even though we absolutely have the talent and capability to make some exceptional things if we just let the dang thing bake a few more months. I'd be more impressed with the tight clip if the goals were reasonable for good business reasons, but as far as I can tell the reason usually boils down to "some high-level manager wanted X and thought Y sounded like a good target date". * Comp growth leaves something to be desired. Raises feel pretty flat, though it's not the worst thing since stock rewards can be pretty good as appropriate for performance. Career progression is pretty good here too - I just find it odd how stale the base pay increases are year to year.

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