Photon Sr. Software Engineer reviews

* Conditional offer letters * Mandatory client interviews after receiving an offer * Pressure to accept offers quickly * Clauses involving financial penalties for not joining or leaving within a specified period * Work-life balance varies significantly by project * High client and delivery pressure * Micromanagement in some teams * Growth and promotions depend heavily on manager/client * Job security tied to project allocation * Bench periods can affect stability * Frequent context switching between projects * Long working hours during critical releases * Limited product ownership compared to product companies * Internal processes and communication can be inconsistent

This company underpays senior talent and offers very little appreciation for the workload. The pay for a senior software engineer is around 105k, which is far below market expectations, and there have been no hikes for three years despite the pressure to deliver. They also push for daily office attendance even when the client does not require it, and they treat leave policy in a very restrictive way by counting client holidays against employee leave. Overall, the culture feels exploitative and demotivating. They pressure to submit performance appraisal documents, but they will be no meetings with managers and no hikes.