A workplace of empty promises - Senior Developer Instrument Employee Review

2.0
Jul 4, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There's plenty of opportunity to work with incredibly talented, creative people. Relationships of team members tend to be close, which is great for those new to Portland, but it can also be strangely clique-y for a group of adults.

Cons

Pay isn't close to market rate. Most people I worked with who were hired from other cities, myself included, accepted significant paycuts with the promise that cost of living in Portland was lower and that the annual bonus would help close the gap. Neither was true, with the actual bonus amounting to less than half of what was promised. It's difficult to say how pay is determined since management is vocally opposed to pay transparency. Anecdotally, I was aware that a woman in my same title who was performing duties of a more senior title was paid less than I was. Outside of salary inequity, there isn't a clear protocol for HR to handle harassment incidents. A new employee handbook was released shortly before I left which declared a zero-tolerance policy, however that was not my experience when I reported an incident there. A coworker who sent my inappropriate messages multiple times while he was drunk during work, eventually followed me home after meeting me outside of the office to apologize. He stayed outside of my apartment and continued to send messages asking me to let him in. When I reported this incident to HR and showed the messages, he was simply moved to another team and I was told not to talk about it. He continued to spend time in my team's area, so I consequently avoided working at my desk for much of my time on that team after the incident. Being a woman in tech isn't easy, but in 8 years of work I've never experienced anything like this, and it's the single reason I couldn't return or recommend this company to anyone.

Explore other reviews about Instrument

5.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company with great people. Seamless life, work balance, and a very nice company culture.

Cons

No big cons as far as my concern. The pay can be slightly better, but it's okay compared to other agencies' standards.

3.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people here are great. Every team feels fairly connected, even for a 250+ person agency. Work/life balance is the best I've experienced at an agency so far. Pay is fair and scales depending on where you live and your experience overall. Work has the potential to be interesting, but most clients we bring in are not looking for ground-breaking work.

Cons

The benefits are not extraordinary, other than generous PTO. Recently removed a sabbatical program. Layoffs that come as a surprise, with scrambles only months later to fill the eliminated roles. Freelance hiring is hit or miss. Publicly-owned with a parent company that doesn't align with Instrument's morals. Leadership feels fairly disconnected and not genuinely interested in resolving the low morale amongst the larger team. Seemingly more interested in advertising themselves and using AI than in focusing on craft and high-quality projects. Constant leadership departures create anxiety.

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