Top paying US fintech demanding 4 days in-office enters the UK
The upcoming release of the movie Dumb Money, chronicling the GameStop saga, is reinserting online broking firm Robinhood into the cultural consciousness. Coinciding with this, the publicly traded $11.5bn fintech is planning to expand its workforce across the pond, with multiple job listings being put up in the UK.
While only a few senior roles are on offer in Robinhood's UK business at the moment, more will presumably follow. Is Robinhood a good place to work?
If you're purely after a paycheck, the answer might be yes. We've ranked it as the eight highest paying fintech company for software engineers in 2023, where total compensation of $300k (£233k) is the standard. Pay in London might be lower, but still.
If you're looking for the famed fintech counter-culture that some might say was epitomized by the GameStop saga, you might be out of luck. Work from home advocates will be saddened to learn that, in the US at least, Robinhood is demanding a minimum of four days in the office. But that might be the least of your worries...
On jobs forum Blind, the average rating for Robinhood is 3.6 stars. However, for reviews in 2023 that number plummets down to 2.9. A senior staff engineer describes it as a "sinking ship" while another senior engineer warns of "backstabbing politics and people not being able to take accountability." Multiple reviews call the work-life balance "terrible."
These thoughts have been typified by Robinhood's extensive layoffs. They're one of many fintech unicorns that have made cuts in the past year, but Robinhood have done so twice: first a 23% layoff last August, then another 7% one last month.
This doesn't mean it's all bad. Reviews say fellow employees are "great people and fun to work with" and revel in the opportunity to work on an "exciting mission." The key issue appears to be with the leadership team. Reviews say they are "disconnected from reality" and have "no long term vision."
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