The first 3 years were great, but after the layoffs in 2008, I worked so much I had to leave on disability. - Content PayPal Employee Review

2.0
Feb 9, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Compensation and benefits Cool people Matching 401k Great campus Company-provided shuttles Depending on the team, collaborative design principles work from home schedules

Cons

Lots of night work, sometimes weekends Very few people get promoted, only the same "popular" ones in the clique get promoted over and over If you complain to HR, middle management makes you suffer "corporate backlash," and you are punished. Middle management doesn't know how to treat people with disabilities and they take illegal actions Incompetent people just get moved to another group Corporate politics at the middle management level, they don't trust the people they supervise and you are treated like a child Performance reviews are based on "anonymous feedback" so you never have an idea of who is providing feedback on your work. It used to be 360 feedback where you would submit the names of peers. Now managers can go and talk to anyone they wish and it remains anonymous, like you're getting voted off the island, or Big Brother is watching. Even Apple and Wall Street doesn't do it this way. There is also a calibrated rating system that is like a bell curve, so even if you perform well, you can't get as high a rating as you deserve. That discourages people from achieving. There is a new senior leadership team and strategic vision about every 6 months.

Explore other reviews about PayPal

5.0
May 7, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good work life balance. Lot of opportunities to learn

Cons

Company is in transition mode

2.0
Apr 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

PayPal has a lot of potential. It has two very strong brands in PayPal and Venmo with significant awareness and user bases that other companies envy. There are pockets of teams that are really pushing the envelop to reimagine what PayPal and Venmo could be—especially the Venmo team—and to move with speed given the company must stay focused and not waste time with Apple Pay, Shop Pay, and so many other competitors nipping at PayPal's heels and aggressively taking market share.

Cons

While some teams are pushing to self-disrupt and are moving fast, too many teams—and I'd argue the majority of the company–are living off of PayPal's laurels from the late 2010s through the pandemic. The culture and mindset have to change for the company to remain competitive. Otherwise, they are the Titanic and they're sinking slowly. The former CEO who only last 2 years tried diversifying the company's revenue, planning for the future. But the board and its former chairman (now new CEO) felt he wasn't moving fast enough to stabilize and marketshare. Instead, the board hired the former chairman who made computers and printers at HP—another sinking ship—to lead the oldest fintech company. The loss of confidence in the leadership team and the strategy are only accelerating.

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