Does RealNetworks pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, RealNetworks employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.2 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at RealNetworks. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at RealNetworks?

33% of RealNetworks employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated RealNetworks 3.5 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.0 for culture and values and 2.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at RealNetworks?

Software Engineer (14) , Program Manager (12) , Senior Software Development Engineer (12) , Software Development Engineer (12) , Director (8) , Intern (6) , (4) , General Manager (4) , Manager (4) , Product Manager (4) , Senior Program Manager (4) , Senior Software Engineer (4) , Software Test Engineer (4) , Data Science Intern (3) , Producer (3)

What are the pros of working at RealNetworks according to real employee reviews?

"Good people (mostly)" ((in 57 reviews)); "good work/life balance for the size of the company" ((in 24 reviews)); "Decent benefits" ((in 19 reviews)); "great culture" ((in 14 reviews)); "good pay and easy work" ((in 8 reviews))

What are the cons of working at RealNetworks according to real employee reviews?

"Too many layoffs & reorgs." ((in 27 reviews)); "Management doesn't care about employees." ((in 20 reviews)); "Upper management is arrogant and ignores competition." ((in 15 reviews)); "Senior leadership continually plays catch" ((in 15 reviews)); "Low morale: Everybody is just trying to survive...there is hardly any passion here." ((in 11 reviews))

What are employees saying about RealNetworks layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about RealNetworks layoffs and their outlook for job security at RealNetworks in 2026.

What are the top reviewed RealNetworks locations?

Seattle , Reston , New York , San Francisco , South Seattle , Chicago , Dallas , Bellevue , Marysville , Renton

Skip to content Skip to footer

Notifications

RealNetworks

RealNetworks reviews

2.9

33% would recommend to a friend

(304 total reviews)

Rob Glaser

37% approve of CEO

18% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.6

Diversity & inclusion

3.5

Work/Life balance

3.2

Compensation and benefits

3.0

Culture & values

2.7

Career opportunities

2.4

Senior management

RealNetworks has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 304 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The RealNetworks employee rating is 25% below average for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

304 reviews

2.0

Dec 30, 2008

Real Bad Management Team

Development manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The job pays well at least. The engineers I work with are top notch. The benefits are alright, but nothing to write home about.

Cons

Management has no clue how to run a business. Everything is based on gut instincts instead of metrics. Middle management is a bunch of yes men. I've worked here for two years and have had four different managers and five different vice presidents. There's no clear product visions. Products are rushed to market without thinking about customer experience. The stock performance is terrible and a clear indication that the CEO is more focused on micromanaging his staff instead of driving stockholder equity.

2.0

Nov 9, 2008

Extremely frustrating, especially if you're not in any of the consumer-focused businesses.

Program manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Environment is fairly relaxed. Good probability you'll have your own office. Compensation seems fair. Onsite gym is okay, free soda, free Rhapsody/SuperPass, atrium common area is nice. Onsite cafeteria can be hit or miss, but is extremely convenient. Real goes all out on Halloween, which is pretty cool.

Cons

Constant re-orgs, minimal communication between senior management and employees, minimal communication between business units. I'd say poor communication overall, which makes for a fairly active rumor mill. Some departments are marginalized and have been picked clean during layoffs, but are expected to maintain same level of productivity. HR seems detached and ineffective.

2.0

Sep 11, 2008

Real, no place for technically skilled personnel

Senior systems engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

RealNetworks is a very very challenging environment to work at within the Engineering area's, if you like a challenge then this is a good place to spend a LITTLE time.

Cons

The most steeply political environment I've ever worked at, no inter-department communication, tons of finger-pointing. RealNetworks tries to maintain the dot-com feeling that we all loved during the nineties, however, upper management has a corporate outlook that is incompatible with a dot com culture. Re-orgs happen constantly, and the turn-over rate is surprisingly high. There is a ton of legacy systems and no real documentation to support it, and the personnel that originally deployed the solutions are long gone, leaving current employees holding the bag.

Viewing 37 - 39 of 304 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Epic

4.0★Compensation & Benefits

Motorola Solutions

3.9★Compensation & Benefits

MathWorks

3.8★Compensation & Benefits

Yardi Systems

3.8★Compensation & Benefits

Jobs at RealNetworks