Pros
-The benefits are ok, probably the only real positive when comparing a big company like this to a sweet little startup where you'll be given fun and interesting challenges, and where people speak in human languages and not in acronyms and corp-speak. -The salary is fair* (it was good but now it's stagnant... they suspended salary increases and bonus'). -It's changing a lot with all the off-shoring, and the ever worsening work conditions which have triggered an exodus of the best and brightest, but still there are some genuinely decent co-workers (mixed in with some genuinely-not-so-decent butt-kissers) -Managers, their sycophants, and those outside of the technology organizations look like they have a pretty good time. When reading other reviews pay attention to job titles and you'll see how most engineers skew towards the un-happy side of the scale, and those in other organizations seem to be far more content with PayPal employment. Also, if you're considering this place for your next empoyer, read the eBay reviews as well... they are the company that owns us, and their culture is fast encroaching on ours. *you can look up the salaries, and those not in california will probably consider them very high. But cost of living here is pretty brutal, so those of you scoping this place out for a possible move would be well advised to look into how expensive this area is.
Cons
-Being owned (anchored) by eBay -Being a financial institution and not a software company in how we are run (Scott Thompson is a former Visa guy, so he's pretty much destroyed the silicon valley vibe the company had and driven off the more creative and brilliant rank and file developers.) -Our customers generally resent our draconian policies and fees (read articles with comment sections, anything related to PayPal or eBay - PayPal's parent, and you will see how much venom people spew at us... and if they weren't so right, I think it wouldn't weigh so heavily on my sense of job satisfaction.) -Salary freeze (even though we at PayPal delivered double digit growth, being part of eBay meant the company as a whole didn't do well, so we all get punished) -Getting eBay options (we recently fell into the single digits, while Amazon, eBay's closest competitor has been soaring up into the 70's – nullifying the excuses our executives keep blabbing about the economy being the cause – when everyone in, and out, of the company knows it's the direct result of our incompetent management.) -Having a board of directors that doesn't fire the head of eBay (read the eBay reviews to see how much he's reviled by our co-workers over on the eBay side of the company.) -With billions in the bank we had a layoff which was totally unnecessary, yet just because other companies are doing it, the clown-show-exec-staff decided to shrink the teams... then go on a shopping spree to buy Paylater for more than a billion. This is what I hate, times are tough and they figure they can do anything they want and people aren't in a position to quit... Well, sadly they might be able to do so now, but they're paying a high cost in terms of morale, and retaining the best of the best (who can find work in any economy.) -Having process' and procedures piled on all the time. Doing ANYTHING is an oversize in frustration at PayPal. -The corporate Network is slow... really slow (we're a high tech company!? really????) -Most of our tools are sub-par, and sluggish -Getting any suggestions to percolate up through the lower management filter to higher levels is impossible -Bonus' (back when we actually had them) were tied to shared goals... that are NEVER fully met. Many of my co-workers look at the most prominent of the goals, which is known as A.T.B. (average time to business) as a simple scam to limit bonus payouts. Nice to know that we grunts, who work like crazy get chiseled out of our bonus' by the multi-million dollar bonus earning clowns up top. -Metrics collection and "meeting the numbers" frequently will interfere with getting the real work done -There's ever increasing demands that we do more, in less time... unless you brown nose your way into a cozy relationship with your boss, you get no concessions for the extra time and efforts. -To summarize, PayPal is a very frustrating place to work. I've decided I'll hold this job a while longer (while the economy is so crazy), but as soon as things calm some, I'm going to fire this company and find a place that isn't so infested with incompetent management, and which isn't so completely obsessed with keeping everyone burried in process' and pointless side tasks.
