Opportunism Abounds - Anonymous employee Autodesk Employee Review

2.0
Nov 24, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay is decent and benefits are good, most offices are nice. A core of true believers still remains, people who care about customers, products and each other.

Cons

The true believers are being swallowed up by a crowd of opportunists who are focused only on seeking political favor from senior leadership. Many of these opportunists barely know who their customers are and what they want. A few years ago, Autodesk decided that it couldn't grow and compete by acquiring technology (it long ago gave up trying to innovate organically). Its new strategy, which has been increasingly visible over the past four years, has been to extract more money from customers who can't switch away easily from its products and to reduce costs by systematically cutting "experienced" employees, regardless of performance, and replacing them with interns and new hires. Of course, every company needs to turn over its skill base to stay relevant, but at Autodesk there is a pattern where low performing, highly paid but politically savvy employees are retained while higher performers are let go. What's worse, some of the new hires aren't always top performers (to be fair, some are excellent, but why settle for just some). The environment has become increasingly political, and a company that has always struggled to listen to customers has become practically deaf to them at this point. Oh, and the sabbatical seems like a cool idea, but when you compare it against a standard vacation policy it's not such a great deal.

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Cons

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5.0
May 27, 2026
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Pros

Autodesk has, hands down, one of the warmest and most supportive corporate cultures I’ve ever experienced. From day one, people were welcoming, respectful, kind, and genuinely available to help. Even as a contract worker, I never felt like an outsider. I felt included, trusted, and treated like part of the team. The marketing team was an incredible group: collaborative, smart, generous with their time, and always willing to answer questions. Autodesk also has a true teaching culture. You never feel silly for asking questions, and there is a clear willingness across teams to help people learn, improve, and succeed. Operationally, the company was also impressively efficient. The technology, meeting tools, scheduling systems, and general workflows made it easy to connect with people, set appointments, collaborate, and keep work moving without unnecessary friction. Overall, Autodesk set the bar for what a healthy corporate culture can feel like: organized, human, respectful, inclusive, and genuinely collaborative. Pros: Warm culture, helpful people, strong tools and technology, respectful teams, inclusive environment, great marketing organization.

Cons

As a contractor, I only wish the experience had been longer.

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