Strong start, but culture declined as company scaled - Software Engineer Bitly Employee Review

2.0
Sep 8, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

• Fantastic pay and good benefits, amazing unlimited PTO, bi-annual recharge weeks. • Many coworkers were talented and skillful. • Early on, the company encouraged balance and openness around mental health. • Progressive culture with values around inclusivity and social awareness.

Cons

• Career pathing was nonexistent, leaving employees stuck with no growth opportunities and sabotaging their careers. • Heavy meeting culture left little time for focused work. • DEI efforts often felt more performative than authentic. • Upper management felt detached from day-to-day realities. • Many choices created unnecessary duplicated work, and significant completed work was discarded entirely. Feedback from those doing the work often went unheard. • Performance reviews were inaccurate and lacked a fair dispute process, which was damaging and demoralizing. • HR showed little empathy and was even hostile at times. • A major acquisition did not bring stability and instead contributed to layoffs, further damaging morale. • The product felt behind the competition, which made it harder to feel confident in the company’s direction.

Explore other reviews about Bitly

5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Supportive team environment with opportunities to learn new technologies. Collaborative culture, flexible work arrangements, and exposure to challenging projects that help employees grow professionally.

Cons

Some projects can have tight deadlines and changing priorities. Communication between teams could occasionally be improved to ensure smoother project execution.

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Bitly Response
1w
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and for being part of Bitly for the past 1 year. We're glad to hear that you've had a positive experience with your team, opportunities for growth, and the flexibility we offer. We also appreciate your feedback about project planning, shifting priorities, and cross-functional communication. Feedback like yours helps us continue improving how teams work together and support employees as they grow their careers at Bitly. Thank you again for sharing your perspective. – The Bitly People Team
3.0
Jun 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, good work-life balance, given time to learn & use AI

Cons

Lots of changes & whiplash on strategy, teams tend to work too independently, not a lot of space for career growth, upper leadership doesn't seem to prioritize retention

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Bitly Response
5d
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and for being part of Bitly over the past 3 years. We're glad to hear you've had a positive experience with your colleagues, our work-life balance, and the opportunity to learn and work with AI. We also appreciate you calling out the areas where you feel we can do better. Building greater clarity around our strategy, creating stronger alignment across teams, and providing more opportunities for career growth are all important, and feedback like yours helps us understand where we need to improve. Thank you again for your honest feedback, and we wish you all the best in your continued journey at Bitly. – The Bitly People Team
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