Be careful - Back End Engineer Cadent Employee Review

2.0
Jan 3, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Flexible time off - Fellow coworkers are really great to work with. Great collaboration. - Stocked kitchen. Definitely would have gained a few pounds here if I kept on snacking. - Fun company events such as bowling and holiday parties - Nice office space. Nice view of Philly - Birthday gift cards and Winter Holiday bonus

Cons

- Incredibility top-down heavy. Non-management employees are rarely listened to. Sometimes we will have something planned out and then a last minute executive order will change everything without a clear explanation. There are times when other employees would show up to meetings uninvited, which is distracting and counter productive. There is too much micromanagement done by managers when things don't go as planned. There seems to be a lack of trust between workers and their managers. - Lack of transparency and direction. We spent months developing a product that users won't use because it doesn't fulfill their needs. The feedback loop between everyone needs to be tighter, but no one is really improving it. We will often be given deadlines that are impossible to meet. For example, we were once given a deadline for a feature due in ten days, but the workload required at least thirteen. Decisions that affect development are made without the team being aware. This leads to poorly designed contracts, data-flow, and UI. - Resource constraints. We are asked to do more with less. Databases keep running out of space, and we are expected to support old and new products on a timeline that isn't realistic. A lot of these problems are solvable if upper management slows down, takes a step back, and listens to the people who report to them. I feel as though upper management has an ego problem. - Hard workers who perform really well are not rewarded. There's little room to move up in the company unless a manager is promoted to a higher management role, or when someone quits. Hardworking people are underpaid despite how much they contribute. -Lack of company culture. Everyone is isolated in their own departments. There is lack of communication, understanding, and interaction across different departments. - Some of HR do not care about certain departments within the company. That's a bit contradictory according to company core values. One core value is, "Results Over Rules", which isn't enacted. It's more like, "Rules over results". Sometimes rules seem to be made up on the fly.

Explore other reviews about Cadent

5.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Hybrid, nice office, nice people, good work life balance

Cons

The promotion criteria were not clearly established.

1
1.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Probably the free snacks. And reminiscing about when all the cool people still worked here.

Cons

Leadership feels increasingly out of touch with both employee sentiment and what made this company successful in the first place. Management has openly expressed that they don't care if employees leave. Unfortunately, that mindset shows. Many of the company's most talented, experienced, and respected people have already exited, and more continue to do so. The return-to-office mandate ignores repeated employee feedback. Surveys have consistently shown that people value flexibility and don't want a blanket RTO policy, yet leadership appears determined to move forward regardless. The company continues to invest in large office spaces while forcing legacy Cadent and AdTheorent employees back into the office, undoing the culture, trust, and flexibility that teams spent years building. It increasingly feels like the RTO strategy is less about collaboration and more about driving voluntary attrition. The company's overall story and strategy remain difficult to understand. It feels like a "we do everything" company without a clear, cohesive vision that ties its products and acquisitions together. The acquisition strategy seems focused on accumulating businesses rather than thoughtfully integrating them, often resulting in the erosion of the very cultures and strengths that made those companies successful. At its core, the biggest issue is a growing disconnect between leadership and employees. People want to understand the vision, feel heard, and believe that leadership values both the business and its people. Right now, many employees don't feel any of those things.

4
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