Pros
(Most of) The people. Smart, hardworking, happy to help, friendly. Met and made friends for life with colleagues from all over the world! Job security, many tech companies making layoffs but Wise is profitable and has been responsible with it’s finances. Amazing company events, Wise Days 2022 (the annual summer party) was incredible. Huge opportunities for career growth and learning if you put in the legwork. International travel encouraged, often frequently depending on your role and/or team. 6 week paid sabbatical plus £1k bonus after 4 years is excellent and almost unheard of elsewhere.
Cons
Total compensation package no longer competitive post-listing. Salaries not high enough for Wise’s current position in the market given stock grants have been reduced so significantly and the share value has plummeted. Feedback culture is used as an excuse for frequently giving unhelpful opinions and bullying behavior (nearly always by men within Product and Eng). Product and Eng teams treated more favorably than everyone else. Lack of alignment and clarity on hybrid working. Teams and leads are deciding approaches amongst themselves which is breading inequality. Still quite immature when considering Wise is now a PLC, has some growing up to do. People team has been in crisis mode for 2 years and is losing talented colleagues at an alarming rate. Hopefully the new CPO will steady the ship. Still has a ‘growth over everything’ mindset and directing resources to that when some teams and processes are already maxed out and at breaking point.
