Fine for a few years, bad for a long-term career - Senior Software Engineer Akamai Employee Review

2.0
Jan 26, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Unlimited (or at least uncapped) vacation time - Good (but not spectacular) compensation - Tom Leighton

Cons

- The company is run by the old guard, who have formed cliques and jealously guard their information. I've seen several people new to the company become completely overwhelmed and have no help whatsoever. - No documentation anywhere. - Lack of focus. It's common for projects to be pushed back, and some get ignored completely. - Most of the challenges Akamai faces now are business challenges: how to manage sustainable growth, which smaller companies to acquire, and so on. There aren't as many genuinely technical challenges as there are at other companies. - The people there are in it for the stock, not because of the engineering challenges. - Very few promotion opportunities. - Endless office politics. - Very few women engineers. The ones that are there are generally in positions high enough to avoid the worst parts of the office environment. - No freebies (soda, lunch, etc.), unlike most tech companies.

Explore other reviews about Akamai

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Genuinely collaborative culture with talented, supportive colleagues across sales, marketing, and technical teams. * Strong work-life balance and flexibility compared to many companies in the cybersecurity industry. * Meaningful products and technology with a strong reputation in the market. * Employees are trusted to own their work without excessive micromanagement. * Good benefits and a people-first culture that generally prioritizes employee well-being.

Cons

As a large organization, decision-making can sometimes be slow and require alignment across multiple stakeholders. * Organizational changes and shifting priorities occasionally create uncertainty. * Cross-functional processes can be complex, which can impact speed of execution.

4.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good people and good tech

Cons

Management is completely hit or miss

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