OpenTable reviews

4.1

77% would recommend to a friend

(670 total reviews)
avatar

Debby Soo

79% approve of CEO

76% positive business outlook

OpenTable has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 670 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The OpenTable employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

670 reviews
2.0
Apr 15, 2019

Wasn't great

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Offices have free snacks and soda/tea/etc. -Plenty of happy hours and other alcohol-related events, which are fun if you're into that sort of thing. Over time, the happy hours and constant drinking seem sad, and a way for people to forget how unhappy they are at work. -Great coworkers. For the most part, everyone is very nice and some close friendships are formed. -Flexible work schedules.

Cons

Where to begin. This company is going downhill fast. It's a bad sign when HR is so busy processing termination notices, they lose track of whether you are an active employee or not. Here are some notable cons: -- Zero room for growth: this is mentioned in many other reviews. The only real possible movement (if you do manage to move) is lateral. It has become much harder to even move laterally as the company has been turning permanent roles into temporary ones to save $$$ (another blow to employee morale) - so if you decide to take the role, you lose your benefits. Promotions are very hard to get and are given out seemingly randomly. -- Exec team: the entire exec team is completely clueless as to what the 'low level' employees actually do. They set unrealistic goals that any employee at 'ground level' could tell you are not feasible. When the goals aren't met, they come up with half-baked excuses as to why and then proceed to replace them with new, equally ridiculous goals. They sent out a survey to employees to gauge employee satisfaction and work culture. Needless to say the results of that survey were never disclosed. --The job itself: OpenTable used to be proud of hiring the best and the brightest. They don't hire that way anymore, simply because the job doesn't require it. It is boring, repetitive, and anyone can do it after a couple weeks of training. Goals are increased every quarter so that you have to keep doing the same thing more quickly and more often. I've seen people go from enthusiastic and excited for their OpenTable journey to de-motivated and jaded within a span of 6 months. There is no end is sight and the job will only continue to get worse and more automated. It's a bad sign when the average length of employment of the people on your team goes from 5-7 years down to 1 year (no joke). People are quitting faster than they can hire. Many people still at the company are just sticking around until they find something else. OpenTable will never be the fun, start-up-like company it once was. Ever since the Booking Holdings takeover and now being put under the umbrella of Kayak, the company is a shell of its former self. My advice, if you decide to start working there: stay for a year max and take advantage of the flex time to work on pursuing the career you actually want. Because your career won't be here.

1.0
Aug 25, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

good pto, holiday time. some employees are kind and nice to work with, but most are all afraid right now to speak their mind unfortunately. work life balance is good only if you vouch for yourself and set boundaries

Cons

since new Exec leadership (Debby Soo) from Kayak came over 4 years ago, the previous amazing culture has done a complete 180 shift from inclusive/open to now toxic and micro managing. and this is for all departments, from product to engineering to revenue operations. they have been doing silent layoffs (handful at a time) every few weeks for 8 months and counting. you see the pattern, letting go top performers who are paid high salaries and also top performers paid average salaries to later open positions at much lower salary ranges. this leaves every employee at the company living in a constant day to day fear they may be next. so no one is happy, and you can really tell when on Zoom calls with them that people no longer have that same happy light that they use to have. many non-qualified people in mgmt roles rule with a stick and are not open to hearing feedback from their people. they think that they "at mgmt level" know best and that people just need to do what they say. These new managers are trying to make drastic changes because they want to show that they can move the needle. however, collaboration is key to success. a true leader listens. most mgmt levels across all depts are making critical decisions when they do not know as much of the details as the people closest to the problem. current employees still at company are stressed because they have more work being piled on with less people while at the same time fearing their job could be on the line. people spend majority of their time at work... its a very unhealthy culture at OpenTable and for people's mental health. how execs are so clueless at how their employees really feels is baffling. in the past, for company wide surveys, they use to share the entire results with everyone...in this last year, they stopped sharing every single question...we know why! in company all-hands, you can really feel the unauthentic tone of Debby, the CEO. over the years, you'd watch how she acts like she loves her other execs (previous CTO and head of product). you can tell it was fake, and then a little bit later, those 2 execs were gone. and you realize you were right in your intuition on how she comes across. its like watching someone trying to make it as an actor in Hollywood, and its pretty cringey. if you're going to be ruling the company with a stick and not collaborative, then at least act the way that you really are.

3.0
Aug 23, 2018

not what it used to be

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

still many great people there, but many of the original greats are long gone

Cons

stuck. stale. not innovative enough. too corporate now with the merging of booking holdings and kayak. The glory days are over. Saturated market with high pricing and lots of competition and not nimble enough to make changes necessary to be competitive. The amazing cultural vibe is not nearly as strong as it once was.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 670 Reviews

Glassdoor has 721 OpenTable reviews submitted anonymously by OpenTable employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if OpenTable is right for you.