Which Adobe are you looking for? The new or the old? - Senior Computer Scientist Adobe Employee Review

4.0
Jan 23, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Adobe (the formerly-Macromedia part, anyway) is taking the lead in rich client development. They are taking the mindshare away from Java on the client, which means more developers use what you work on, which is a good place to be. Aside from working on cool technology that actually gets used, you don't have to give up your life to do it. I feel my management is very flexible about letting me work from home as needed and sets realistic scheduling expectations. I'm also getting paid enough of a base salary to live in the SF Bay Area and the profit sharing is a nice bonus as well.

Cons

Some parts of the company are getting long in the tooth and jealous of the new kids on the block. There are two Adobe's -- the original Adobe that developed all of those fonts, PostScript, Acrobat, and Photoshop, and then there's the Adobe that used to be Macromedia. The original Adobe has a very corporate feel and the new Adobe has more of a free-wheeling, agile feel. That could be because it's younger.

Explore other reviews about Adobe

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

all good things considered to work here

Cons

often times, it can feel pretty boring

4.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Refreshing focus on employee wellness * Brilliant colleagues * Compelling problems on interesting tools * Good work/life balance culture... generally (see cons) I've been at a few big tech companies and Adobe is one of my favorites. I feel empowered to make impactful changes here, I'm constantly stretching myself in fun ways, and the products we make are incredible. Product and engineering have big dreams, and all the resources we need to realize them.

Cons

* Big time crunch culture around arbitrary goals By far my biggest disappointment has been just how hard product pushes on big projects with arbitrary deadlines and difficult scope. It turns into cutting corners and delivering sub-par experiences even though we absolutely have the talent and capability to make some exceptional things if we just let the dang thing bake a few more months. I'd be more impressed with the tight clip if the goals were reasonable for good business reasons, but as far as I can tell the reason usually boils down to "some high-level manager wanted X and thought Y sounded like a good target date". * Comp growth leaves something to be desired. Raises feel pretty flat, though it's not the worst thing since stock rewards can be pretty good as appropriate for performance. Career progression is pretty good here too - I just find it odd how stale the base pay increases are year to year.

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