Avoid This Company - Software Architect Staples Employee Review

1.0
Nov 21, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I worked for Staples as a software engineer at their Seattle "Development Lab" for nearly three years. About the only good thing I can say about the experience is that it's less intense than Amazon or some start-ups.

Cons

Where to begin? The IT/engineering organization as a whole is technically incompetent from top to bottom. Especially at the top. They give a lot of lip service to wanting to be lean and agile, etc, but in reality the bureaucracy in the main office in Framingham is stifling. It's impossible to get anything done in any reasonable amount of time. Also, they farm out crucial bits to substandard third-party contractors, many of them in India. They keep saying they way to do less of this, but in reality as the job market gets tighter and they are unable to compete, they do it more and more. They are cheap. REALLY cheap. Benefits for example are bottom-of-the-barrel. Count on your health insurance not paying for much of anything, unless you expenses are so large that you exceed the giant out-of-pocket of $6000/yr. Across the board, the company is structured around what retail employees typically get, and it's way below standards for the IT industry. If you are desperate enough to take an IT job here (and there is no reason anyone should be in this market) at least negotiate yourself a better vacation package than the the garbage version they will offer you (two weeks, not increasing to three weeks for 5 years). Finally, and I hate to say this, but it's true and hard to deny: I never saw an engineer who wasn't Indian be successful in the Seattle office. The ones that were any good either relocated to other offices or left the company entirely. Coincidence?

Explore other reviews about Staples

5.0
May 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

good coworkers and benefits and work life balance

Cons

no flexible hours for students

3.0
Jul 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The location I worked at was very kind and accommodating.

Cons

They are forced to run a skeleton crew, Amazon returns bring in excessively angry people who do not buy things, too much emphasis on signing people up for the rewards program, balloons are coming

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All