Suprisingly outdated software development environment for such a reputable company - Senior Software Developer Bloomberg Employee Review

2.0
Feb 7, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Profitable company, name recognition, resume builder, frequent talks by industry-leading distinguished speakers, unlimited free almond milk

Cons

High stress environment. (I experienced this first hand, but also heard it from several employees in various other groups.) Company culture was opposed to using products developed outside the company (in the name of not being dependent on external suppliers). This led to employees having to use buggy internally-developed systems for mail, chat, calendar, bug tracking, room reservations, etc. Hard work and talent were not rewarded or appreciated. Out-of-touch management didn't know enough about industry standard software development practices to improve morale and efficiency. Poor leadership rewarded employees for undermining peers. Knowledge hoarding among employees for job protection was common. While the company overtly promised training opportunities for employees, employees were often discouraged from getting training and frequently had to cancel it due to excessive work loads. Some long-term employees, while having plenty of experience with operating internal legacy systems, had no software engineering experience, yet directly managed software engineers. Industry standard software development practices were lacking: no automated build system (developers hand-built code deployed to production servers), no automated testing, highly manual software deployment and configuration management, no integration between revision control and software release systems, no integration between code review and software release systems. Code base has large technical debt due to poor oversight and no leadership eye toward maintainability and code quality. Employees in a "senior software developer" role spent less than 10% of time on development, most of time on dealing with manual software deployment and frequent operational emergencies due to software breaking.

Explore other reviews about Bloomberg

5.0
Jun 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company, in this role you have the chance to learn about the financial markets, the terminal, and also you get client exposure.

Cons

Not really cons, culture is great.

2.0
May 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great Office, Free Snacks and plenty of social events

Cons

Be prepared for a heavily politicised culture — it's pervasive and affects day-to-day working life significantly. The organisation suffers from clear in-group favouritism at the leadership level, where certain groups are visibly preferred for opportunities, recognition, and advancement. This creates an uneven playing field and quietly damages morale for those outside those circles. Leadership collaboration leaves a lot to be desired. In four years, I didn't experience a single structured team-building or bonding initiative — a telling sign of how little investment goes into people and team cohesion. Perhaps most concerning is the approach to compliance. Raising legitimate concerns or challenging existing practices is met with significant resistance from senior stakeholders, rather than genuine engagement. A culture where pushback replaces accountability is one worth approaching with caution.

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