If you consider applying for a job at KAYAK , please read
Pros
I have the pleasure of working with smart, agreeable and motivated folks especially in areas like finance, engineering or product. I think the “ground force” and the partners, not the management, is what will make you appreciate this company. These friendships and network is one of the things you can take away. They are the ones that make you enjoy coming to the office and having a good journey in the short-medium term. There are also nice perks such as monthly social events, massages, some snacks and drinks which make it nice for fraternizing but also help pulling longer hours at the office.
Cons
Let´s start by saying that KAYAK is an American company with an American culture and that it has grown extremely fast, from no more than 400 in 2015 to over 2,000 employees these days. Main cons I experience: 1. In my opinion, the biggest problem this company has is that it´s grown too fast for its own sake. The infrastructure, this is: People, Systems and Culture, was not ready to resist the influx of company acquisitions and here I believe that leadership is to blame for not building the foundation. 2. They thought the mantra they have, ¨part cowboys¨, would sustain a growing complex global business, when in fact they needed to PLAN ahead. One of the biggest cons I see in this company is the lack of people at the top having the ability to build mid-long term strategies, a master plan and processes to deliver sustainable growth. I reckon we are in a fast moving industry, but unfortunately employees and partners need to buy into a vision and a strategy which you haven´t been able to set firmly. This has resulted in not so positive company results and a lot of the firing/sacking you have read from other negative comments on this page. There´s been redundancies among the different workforces, KAYAK and new brands acquired. 3. Providing a career path, competitive salaries or visibility and alignment between roles and functions is not their forte. This means that there are known compensation gaps; you do not know what are the career options in your foreseeable future or that nobody can explain how people hold director and above titles not having sufficient experience or know how. Let´s put it this way, HR is an ongoing chaos and do a disappointing work. 4. The partners, those who pay for the company services, have long noticed and remind: KAYAK is busy dealing with itself. This is normally driven by regular restructuring and lack of maintaining a sustainable business to provide a win-win situation to all stakeholders. 5. Firing, it´s a business and the company is entitled? Yes, BUT they do not consider the repercussions it has to the business partners and to the morale. Imagine being asked from one day to the other to leave not being able to say goodbye to clients or people whom you´ve worked with. What´s the image when a partner asks about a project you worked and colleagues know nothing or when a peer needs to deliver double the work to cover for those fired? These are dangerous grounds as not only KAYAK is demotivating its workforce but it´s hurting the hand that feeds it. 6. No commitment to any humanitarian or environmental issues. In today´s society, young generations consider companies that show actively their commitment to some of today´s issues, KAYAK does not stand by any of these nor has a CSR programme in the making. 7. Lastly, The simple fact that the positive reviews (4 and 5 stars) in this KAYAK page probably come from the fact that HR asks employees to write something good is disappointing. The quality of those reviews, please notice the 1 liners, will not help the reader to have an idea of the company and challenge the very existence of Glassdoor.
