Benefits don't make up for awful upper management - Senior Software Engineer iHerb Employee Review

1.0
May 9, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

At the time I was employed, the benefits were better than the industry average for software engineering. Health insurance premiums were fully paid. 401k matching was generous and immediate. There were bonuses. There's unlimited PTO. Most importantly, they were fully remote. Maybe those benefits are still present or at least better?

Cons

I read through the other reviews before writing mine, and as I did so, it's interesting to see the parallels between warehouse and software engineering. People in the warehouse noted any time safety was brought up, they were reprimanded or worse. Similarly, software engineering has one of the more extreme "cowboy programming" cadences I've ever seen which leads to a lot of RCAs for failures and issues in production. If you say anything or argue that we need to wait on a deployment or test more, you will hear about it negatively. People in the warehouse noted favoritism, where some could get away with just about anything and were praised for it while others got little to no praise while getting dinged for any mistakes. This is my biggest complaint in software engineering and an argument that at this company, you should do the minimum amount of work possible. If you are a favorite or family (many in upper management are family), you can do anything you want. You will get praise. You will be in the inner circles of upper management. You will get promoted and/or receive generous raises/higher bonuses. If you are not a favorite, it does not matter how hard or smart you work. It doesn't matter if you think outside the box. It doesn't matter how well you help other teams. You will receive little to no appreciation from the people managers or upper management. You will have to prove you are worthy of the next title but will always fall short. Be prepared to be surprised when you get a low mark on some aspect of your annual performance review.Your co-workers know who the favorites are and, unfortunately, many of them will change their attitudes and interactions with people based on that. There are many apologists for upper management spending as much time rationalizing their arbitrary and capricious decisions that would be done in a 5 point story. There were a few great co-workers there that did not give into this toxicity but they were few and far between. Many have mentioned layoffs and working moving over to China. That is true, it was happening before I was there and while I was there. Some companies use outsourcing because they really need extra help. They don't intend to reduce their onshore staff but need extra help. iHerb is different. They do not value the average employee except for those covered by the paragraph immediately above. Lastly, I was surprised that folks were asked to use their own personal credit cards for testing parts of our applications. Finance refused to issue corporate credit cards or accounts due to "freezes." While the at-will nature of employment does allow for such a mandate, it's poor practice for many reasons. Individual contributors were using their own credit cards for testing. Take the risk to your optics and provide a means of testing that does not affect someone's personal credit rating.

Explore other reviews about iHerb

5.0
May 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people to work with.

Cons

Sometimes communication is lacking or gets changed.

2.0
Jun 22, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

iHerb pays 100% of medical benefits for you and your immediate family. They are generous with vacation accruals. Salaries are generous.

Cons

The company continues to operate with a small-business, "mom-and-pop" mentality despite its growth. Leadership is highly centralized, with most decisions driven by the CEO. Employees often perceive that those who are not viewed favorably by leadership are eventually managed out of the organization. There is a culture of fear around speaking up, as many employees worry about potential negative consequences to their employment. Favoritism among leaders is frequently observed, and advancement opportunities can be limited for individuals who are not part of the preferred inner circle.

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