Far too Corporate, Disorganised, Political - Software Engineer Autodesk Employee Review

3.0
Sep 5, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Global company with the opportunity to work on large projects and huge, renowned applications used by 10s of 1000s of people+ Access to great hardware and tools. Often a high degree of autonomy, but that may differ from office to office.

Cons

Lots of poor decision making - i.e. making a decision without understanding the impact; trying to implement global change without a strategy. I've never worked anywhere with so many politics. It depends on who you work for and who they work for as to whether you can be given a raise or a promoted. The standing of an office depends on the products it produces and how they are valued. There's a lot of posturing going on because: multiple teams are developing competing products or services (which shouldn't be happening); because acquisitions have been made of poor products but backed by senior people who do not wish these bad choices to be highlighted. I've seen people sidelined or fired for saying the wrong thing, defending the wrong team, or for being associated with the wrong product. Generally the levels of management make enacting change or having an impact can be impossible. Given the scale of the organisation there is a lot of waster and a lot of poor execution of the vision of senior management. The company is able to make huge mistakes and survive because it has a monopoly on many areas and is making such a huge amount of money, where a smaller company would crash and burn. It can also be lost in translation as to which team is responsible for a success or failure and much of that is by design.

Explore other reviews about Autodesk

5.0
Jun 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good WLB Low Turnover Rates Interesting Projects/Work Full Benefits + 401k

Cons

Medium Pay, Not Amazing Stock Packages

2.0
Jun 12, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The individual contributors, your peers you work with day in and day out are fantastic people! At the IC level, for the most part, it feels like everyone is in the fight together. The work/life balance is good depending on which business unit/team you're aligned with. The benefits are pretty solid, especially the 6 week sabbatical.

Cons

Autodesk moves at the pace of a snail, very slow to take action on anything. Selling is very difficult with all the undocumented approvals, processes, red tape and very few people are willing to actually help! Leadership doesn't care about the people their decisions impact. Feedback is rarely listened to and acted upon. Pay is terrible compared to competitors in this space. Autodesk has embraced a ton of change over the last few years with new marketing, sales and IT leadership and it shows. They are not shy in showing their desire to be the next Oracle at the expense of their people. They are constantly changing tools, processes, people, roles, you name it so you feel like you're under water constantly. Lipstick on a pig.

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