The worst culture ever - Anonymous employee Adobe Employee Review

1.0
Dec 16, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The money, the perception that the company name gives you in the job market when you decide you're done with this nonsense.

Cons

The culture is the worst I have seen in my professional career. The company is mostly run by white males who give lip service to diversity but have zero interest in it. There is a huge amount of narcissism and a bias towards people who talk nonstop about how great the company is and brown nose. It's like the worst frat you've ever seen. Most salespeople have never used the products they are selling. They have their sales scripts but that's it. You are expected to attend meetings and engage in typical workaholic behaviors if you want to go anywhere or save your job. They literally openly threaten firing during conferences and meetings if you do not praticipate to their liking. I have spoken to a number of people who have missed family events years in a row or missed milestones like their child walking for the first time because they are expected to attend grueling meetings regardless. It is very clear that these people must give total control of their homelife to their spouse or partner, otherwise their home would be in shambles. Expect poor to no training or mentorship. When you struggle, you will be blamed. You'll be pointed to the web with countless trainings that will teach you zero valuable skills. Your mentor will end up being someone who is way too busy trying to be a superstar suck up to actually mentor you. When you fail you'll be labeled as "just not adobe material." The processes are a bureaucratic nightmare that would make George Orwell say "really? That seems over the top." Expect that any process will require you to call or interact with offshore resources in India who struggle to communicate and have zero understanding of the process beyond their link in the chain. It is without question the least empathic work environment I have ever seen. God forbid you bring up anything unpleasant like a death in the family or anything similar as just small talk. The employee will gloss over it and talk about how "excited" they are about the "opportunities" Adobe has in the market. That is unless they want to sell you something and then they will act like they care until the deal is done.

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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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