great for juniors, disempowering for seniors - Senior Vice President Salesforce Employee Review

3.0
Feb 10, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Visionary company, great learning ground to understand cloud, hypergrowth, best in the world sales practices - not a month without a gift (private concerts, weekend at the CEO's place in Hawaii, sports cars and Cartier watches given away during events or simply for good results) - commitment to giving back to charities and communities - very good compensation, generous stock option and free share packages - to juniors this is wonderland, feels like a cult to the founder - robust and clear onboarding and ongoing trainings and career development

Cons

- seniors are unempowered: there is no real P&L, even the President/EVP of a geography does not have a real P&L. They don't have a balance sheet to manage either. All major decisions are taken in San Francisco by the same 4 people - if you are not an affirmed Democrat you are clearly excluded. I remember this mandatory fundraising diner for Hillary Clinton. Anyone not paying and going was clearly set aside afterwards - highly political at executive level: achieving results is considered obvious. What matters to progress is knowing the founder, "culture and behavior" and "personal brand" which means personal preferences, lack of meritocracy, and fierce competition to build one's "brand" (announce results before others, take credit for others work etc).

Explore other reviews about Salesforce

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing workplace culture Great benefits Great career growth pathways Favorite job of my entire career Great leadership

Cons

None. You work hard but it’s so worth it.

4.0
Jul 9, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I've spent over 8 years with Salesforce in various management and individual contributor roles, all customer or partner facing. Some of the pros: - vibrant, fast paced culture - smart, fun, aggressive colleagues - management is focused on latest tech trends and staying or becoming a leader for many of them - by and large, customers and partners are very positive about the technology - good benefits and perqs - hip urban culture at HQ - a chart-your-own-course mentality that rewards those who aggressively seek out the job they want and pursue it, or sometimes even create it

Cons

After my long tenure and many Dreamforce conferences, I'm nearly fried. To say the culture is fast paced and the focus is always changing is an understatement. The reason Salesforce always seems on top, and chasing the latest trend, and in the press, is because employees are expected to run harder, carry more, cheer loudly, and pivot constantly. It's the world's biggest startup in behavior. But at the same time, with the recent influx of top career sales leaders from Oracle and what appears to be a board-level mandate for doubling revenue, employees are being asked to do even more with even less, fill higher quotas with smaller territories, less help, and the big company bureaucracy is rearing it's ugly head. Worse still is the politics. When you hire a bunch of smart, aggressive people, and put them in an environment of outsized expectations, throw in a bunch of re-orgs and changing management, and sprinkle with uncertainty and constantly changing priorities, you inevitably get people back stabbing each other and throwing others under the bus to appear smarter and more worthy of promotion. The few at the top will get very, very rich. The rest will lose the sense of personal ownership and start to wonder why they've given up health and family

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Salesforce Response
1y
It's not often that you get the opportunity to respond to a review 10 years in but your comprehensive and thoughtful review has managed to hold on as one of our most popular even a decade in :) It’s exciting to see that the things we love most about the Salesforce of today — super smart colleagues, being at the forefront of tech trends and establishing ourselves as leaders in the space, great benefits and perks to name a few — haven’t changed in the past 10 years. We acknowledge the challenges you faced, such as the pace, shifting priorities, and internal politics. Your advice on maintaining our foundational vision while avoiding big-company bureaucracy is helpful as we continue to grow as the #1 AI CRM. Salesforce is committed to balancing growth with employee well-being and staying true to our core values. We appreciate your insights and dedication over the years. Thanks again for your feedback!
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