Strong product, mixed bag on architecture - Staff Software Engineer ServiceNow Employee Review

4.0
May 6, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

ServiceNow's product is powerful and will be useful to many clients for a long time. The company is on solid ground financially. Corporate culture is pretty good in general.

Cons

Pay is low for the area--even for today's climate. The architecture is...bizarre. Don't expect to build sites using relevant technologies like React, WebPack, etc. Building apps for ServiceNow means writing pre-ES5 JavaScript into CSDATA blocks in XML then hand-copying files to the right repos. There's never truly been a paradigm like this, but if I had to place it, I would say SN's engineering practices are somewhere in the early 2000s to early 2010s on average--light years behind the average. The impact of this is up to you, personally. I found it jarring. Also, this may be specific to my team, but despite having 2 days/week in office, I am completely isolated. I'm vaguely aware of neighboring teams but not who to contact to reach them. I've never had a skip-level meeting and didn't meet my boss's boss until over a year into my job. I've barely met anyone outside my team, despite the clear architectural opportunities to modernize and improve broad Engineering practices and technologies.

Explore other reviews about ServiceNow

5.0
Jul 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay, benefits, flexible time off

Cons

Workload and difficult work life balance

2.0
Jun 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

ServiceNow had a differentiated platform and products. Early on the culture had a startup energy that was rare for a company this size collaborative teams, ownership, and a sense that people actually cared about outcomes. Working with large enterprise customers on complex workflows was interesting work.

Cons

The ServiceNow I joined was a different company. As headcount increased, so did the bureaucracy, layers, and friction that rewarded politics over execution. The layoffs of the last few years were handled poorly little transparency, inconsistent communication, and decisions that felt made far above with little thought for the people affected. The "cost optimization" messaging rang hollow against continued executive spending. For a company that sells workflow and people process tools, the irony of a chaotic RIF wasn't lost on anyone in the field or on customers. Leadership political dynamics were real. The right team, the right manager you had cover. Performance alone didn't protect you.

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