software engineer

operations associate

customer service representative

account manager

product manager

Gusto

Working at Gusto was pretty great for the free food and the benefits package. It was not great for the bait and switch of the job position and inability to have my skills compensated for. I was made to believe I would be working payroll but, just from the way they hire, I was put on a benefits specialist team. This took the time I would be training (3 weeks in my interview) to being 6+ weeks. I didn’t learn this until I showed up on day 1. I also had to take on more job responsibilities, but all entry level people earn the same starting hourly wage, and it is non-negotiable. Had I been told I would have to learn everything about the way they administer benefits I would have not said yes to taking this position unless I was getting paid more. I love payroll! It was what I was really excited to do and be involved with at Gusto. They have a great product, but it becomes hairy when people are yelling at you about cancelled medical insurance because the benefits advisors don’t do anything outside of signing people up for plans and minimal follow up. One of your metrics is based on a customer satisfaction survey which is completely up to a business owners whim. With benefits if you give someone info they don’t like you are getting a bad score regardless of how much you de-escalate. I had times where I would de-escalate a person 3 - 4 times and then try to get an email follow up (They push following up via email because the issues get so complex) just to have them start yelling and won’t get off the phone. Many 1+ hour phone conversations. Managements favorite line is that they are a start up whenever they are questioned about process or issues, even though it is super slow to implement change and the hierarchy they have suggests they are more of an established business. The company itself is really reactionary when it comes to broken processes, so it isn’t until either its too late or has impacted a lot of people that will they try to fix it.  They say they have strong values like ownership mentality and full transparency, but I did not experience those while I worked in their customer experience department. The department is mostly people in their early 20s. There is a heavy emphasis on happy hour since the job stress people out so much just from customer interactions.

-No vacation time. Don't be fooled by the "unlimited" vacation time. You will never get it. You will work, work, work, and wonder when that vacation time is coming, and then it will be back to work, work, work.
- Your job description will not be what you are doing. 
- You won't be able to take your first year "fly-away" because your time off will be black listed. Unless you plan to take off during very specific times in the summer, forget about it.
- Your salary does not match the amount of responsibility you will have. You will take on the workload of an account manager (usually paid between 60-70k in the Denver area), but be paid at an associate level
- Despite being a theoretical owner in the company, you will have no idea what is going on with management
- A very "clique" high-school environment. Many individuals with inflated egos who make others feel inadequate. If you were not part of the "in" crowd in college or high school, you're going to have a hard time fitting in here
- A shocking lack of diversity. Coming from a lower-middle income family, an example of individuals who would benefit from small-business support that Gusto provides, you will find very little of this at Gusto. Think of an ivory tower. That is what you will find. I have encountered nobody from a similar upbringing at Gusto. 
- No matching 401k. With the vesting in stock, this is almost understandable, until you learn you are not fully vested until your 5th year
- Your work will be an albatross around your neck. There is no escaping it. It may seem like a salary job, until you see the wage paycheck. Be prepared to constantly check your email and internal messaging system, even on weekends, evenings, and on holidays. Again, this would be acceptable if expectations were set beforehand and wages were set at what a standard salary job is in the Denver area. 
- Your career opportunities will never be clearly defined. I have not been employed at Gusto for a long period of time, however, more tenured employees have expressed that that there is a cloud around future career opportunities. 
- Work-life balance is abysmal. Unless you are single and have nothing else to do, you will be hard-pressed to find time for your out of work life. Gusto will be your life - at an entry level pay. Unacceptable unless you have never had a job.

I was hired through an outside recruiter for a 5-month contract position at Gusto as a customer engagement representative. They hired 30 and trained 30 of us to be a part of their "email support" for their payroll care team. We were split up with specific managers who scheduled 1:1 meetings with us every week. The position started out great, answering emails and learning as you go but about a month into our contract they decided they needed help with their benefits support emails so they took us off the floor to do training for a week. After that training was over, they then told us that we would actually be taking phone calls for the next 2 weeks and just threw us on phones with less than a day of training. Jumping from emails to phones with no warning took a toll on a lot of us and a lot of people quit during our time on phones. Management knew we were struggling with phones and so they incentivized us by encouraging us to apply for their full-time position that consisted of the same workflow we were already doing. I was pressured into applying for the full-time position being told that it was almost a guarantee I would be hired as the contract position was just a "weed out" process to see who could handle the position. I applied and interviewed and then received a vague impersonal email saying I didn't get the job as it was going to people with "more experience." Come to find out I was one of the only contractors that didn't get the full-time position and NOT A SINGLE person had feedback as to why I didn't get it. My manager switched back to another team during this time and I never heard anything back from her. I loved Gusto and I really could do amazing things for this company, it was just a bummer that they treat their contractors as if they are disposable. All in all, I am thankful for this experience as it made me want to work for a company that truly values me, not only as an employee, but as a human being. 

I’ve worked in call centers before but this has to be one of the most complex and confusing ones that I worked at. The training though it was a month long didn’t really touch upon the actual day and day and questions we would get once we were actually out on production. The company reiterates that it’s not a tax agency but at the same time almost all the custs ask us about specific tax information that I wasn’t able to really answer. The company implements AI into its resources along with articles to handle scenarios and advises us to message tenured reps and our group chat but even that led me to find many different answers when it came to certain scenarios so I never fully knew if I was even giving the right info to custs. On top of that there are multiple different departments with no clear explanation as to what each one really does and the phone numbers seem all over the place as customers would press anything just to be able to speak to someone. I would get calls from custs that were frustrated regarding getting assistance for a certain issue or never got a call from a particular rep for ongoing issues and often times those reps had no direct lines or a direct line for the dept so those people in turn would take their frustrations out on me and I wasn’t able to help them. I like that the culture seems very positive and open but this whole role has impacted my anxiety and I don’t see myself continuing to stay here any longer with all the overwhelming information and some of the disorganization. If you have experience in payroll and accounting and are knowledgeable about every state and labor law this may be a shoo in for you but if not you may struggle for a long time cause it’s a new situation everyday.

Management is great and the people Gusto hires are motivated, supportive, and kind. I've made a ton of friends while working at the company and I wouldn't trade that for the world. I've also gained a lot of experience doing a ton of different tasks for the company and that experience is invaluable. Benefits are also great and hard to find (100% paid health insurance, catered lunches when in the office, lots of snacks).

That said, there are some cons. Salary is low relative to job function and many comparable jobs at other companies offer more money. Employees are often overburdened, teams are short-staffed, and overtime is used more often than not especially around the holidays if you work in the benefits org. 

If you're an ambitious person and want to make your job your life, there is a lot of room for growth here. It's a great job for someone looking to build skills and further their career goals. Leadership has made a lot of effort to maintain transparency and my personal experience with managers has been nothing but positive.

Unlimited PTO is available, but for some jobs it's extremely hard to take time off and not end up working/taking care of issues while you're out of the office depending on your team.

I’ve only been at Gusto for a couple of months now but I love the company very much. They are very inclusive, supportive, and really push for the community aspect of the workplace, encouraging you to make friends and be a part of things. My only complaint is the bit of micromanaging that I’ve noticed and also the fact that my job was sold to me as “data entry” when it is health insurance processing for small businesses. I felt that they called it data entry to get people to take a lower pay rate than I feel I deserve for this amount of work. I also feel that I was very inadequately trained. However I am working hard to learn and do good at my job because I love this company and want to stay here. They have unlimited PTO, the health insurance plan covers 100% and starts the day you start working, they have amazing benefits for those who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant including covering IVF, contributing towards adoption, and a hefty bonus for when you have a child or complete adoption. They do yearly bonuses for your “gustoversary” and the people in this company genuinely believe in the work they are doing. Everyone is incredibly kind, motivated, and supportive. I am so glad to have found this company. But with any company you’ll have pain points, which i mentioned mine above.

The company seems pretty good till you find out the retention rate is 3-9 months. The LinkedIn rate is 1.2 years. For a company that offers stock options as a bonus upon hiring. Working on the customer service side is working for a call center. Them having Hybrid and Remote is very nice though. The pay is pretty good. The micromanagement is quite a lot though. If you enjoy being hounded about metrics every day then this is a fit for you. But do not get to comfortable. It seems like they find a way to let people go on a pretty rapid scale. The PTO  plan sounds pretty amazing when you hear about it. However good luck actually getting to use any of it. The Culture for the company is nice they are pretty pro LGBTQIA+ (as long as you are not a customer support rep) They have a lot of events and meetings that if you are customer support you cannot go to because they need people to answer phones. The customer support is very we can help you but, I come first. 

Gusto's product is good, the market fit is great and I think that will help carry the company. 

There are lots of growing pains that should have been worked through for a company this size such as duplicate account creations. 

Leadership does not seem to understand the disfunction in the teams, systems and processes that each individual contributor needs to work through in order to do their job. 
Leadership lacks strategy on roles/responsibilities and gives little thought to how each tool will operate within the systems. This has caused for teams to be created that aren't needed while at the same time other roles are carrying an intense workload. The tools that are purchased either have duplicate functionality or are un-needed and do not have operational support. Therefore, analysis built on the business is effectively useless because of the poor integration these tools share

From my first offer call to now, one month in, I've constantly been reminded of how special this place is. Gusto practices what it preaches and it's really a place where work empowers a better life. The culture here is unparalleled - people care about your personal and professional development. You're given enough autonomy, but you're also encourage to collaborate. I feel supported if I encounter road blocks. I'm lucky to have found a place that aligns with my values and my mission. It's so important to work at a place that you find joy because 2/3 of your time is spent on working. Sometimes the work is challenging, and I'm not always sure if I'm doing it right. But I feel motivated knowing that the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that we work with are benefiting from Gusto's products and services.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at Gusto is working from home and the flexibility the job offers.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Handling multiple groups simultaneously, responding to employers emails and partner team tickets

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There is work life balance and acceptance of other cultures. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Logging into system, making myself available, answering employers email, responding to partner team tickets, requesting documents from employers,  assuring employees have enrolled in benefits and benefits are approved.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 21 salaries reported	$210,899 per year
Operations associate 3 salaries reported	$25.91 per hour
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Account manager 6 salaries reported	$85,000 per year
Product manager 3 salaries reported	$177,500 per year

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