Very stressful environment - Anonymous employee KAYAK Employee Review

1.0
Mar 3, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The only pro I could think of is the Tuition fees reimbursement policy for 5000 USD a year.

Cons

- You won't get the tuition fees approved easily - Unless you work like a machine, you will always be made to feel worthless - Kayak's hobby is to acquire small companies and layoff people in bulk - No competitive salary - You will be repeatedly be assured that your job is not at stake and would be let go with no prior warning or whatsoever. - Management has no clear vision or plans - Product quality only goes downhill as they acquire more companies and still there is no solid plan to make everything work together. - No work life balance.

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KAYAK Response
7y
Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback although I regret that you felt it was a very stressful environment. Being impacted by the recent restructuring in Europe I can understand your feelings. The restructuring was based on the need to improve communication and coordination across our teams and offices. It’s never easy to say goodbye to valued colleagues but, after a lot of deliberation, it was the right decision to set up the employees and the business for further success. For the tuition reimbursement, I’m not aware of any trouble getting things approved. I will dig into that though to make sure others don’t experience the same friction. On the acquisitions that have been happening, it is an exciting time with a lot of change. I’d challenge your comment that product quality is going down. With each acquisition, we have gained very talented team members and outstanding products and can integrate the best parts into all of our brand offerings. Thank you for your time at KAYAK and I wish you the best of luck in your next role.

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5.0
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CEO approval
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Pros

Great people and interesting industry to be in

Cons

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4.0
Nov 24, 2025
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CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits: Healthcare had great coverage and affordable monthly payments. I also really appreciated the work-from-wherever policy as well as all the office snacks. Fantastic people: I genuinely loved the people I worked with—they made me feel like I belonged and was appreciated. My manager worked to build me up, something that can't be said for a lot of places. Travel perks: The ability to travel for work made this experience incredibly rewarding.

Cons

Slow mobility: Trying to get promoted felt like a moving goalpost—the expectations changed every six months and made it nearly impossible to get to the next step. Even then, the business was stingy about who gets promoted, which was incredibly discouraging after years of trying to prove myself.

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