Unstable future makes it difficult to recommend - Software Engineer Cofense Employee Review

2.0
7 Nov 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Full remote, unlimited PTO, people are nice.

Cons

2 rounds of layoffs in 2 years, people are overworked and leaving quickly. CEO claims this second round of layoffs was "right sizing" and that employees should not worry about being cut next and should instead be angry about other people not working as hard as yourself. Development / production environments are a cluster. Management forced cost cutting measures that end up blocking deployments because there aren't enough resources allocated to support the current deployment.

avatar
Cofense Response
6y
Thank you for taking the time to submit your feedback, and we%E2%80%99re sorry you feel that way. Companies our size occasionally restructure and resize certain teams to stay innovative and efficient. The limited action that the leadership team took this week (less than half the size of the action over a year ago) was conducted for those same reasons. As for communication, our CEO has been very transparent regarding the reason for this action and what we are doing to build a better future for everyone. We had two all-employee calls in the past 24 hours where our CEO answered all the questions asked.

Explore other reviews about Cofense

5.0
29 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Cofense was a great company to work for. I loved the mission and the work. I’d work there again!

Cons

Layoffs became a regular thing which is why I found an offer elsewhere.

2.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

it was great back in the day, went downhill around 2022ish Great benefits Good parental leave, including paternity leave Extra perks like: $1k HSA contribution $250/month phone stipend Flexible schedule and autonomy (used to be) Some genuinely good people still there but most left end of 2025 big name clients i like the new ceo

Cons

morale is super low and it's an elephant in the room Constant identity crisis. Strategy changes every few months... there seems to be an extreme disconnect from reality both internal and externally Massive turnover across sales with little revenue produced, ~5 CROs in a year, 3 VPs of Sales in 2 years, 6 reps gone, VPs of engineering, finance and legal recently left, 3 CEOs in a few years etc constant feeling of instability due to consistent layoffs that were told weren't coming, despite performance - i believe there were 4 RIFs in ~3 years Many tenured employees were laid off while underperformers or friends of leadership stayed/replaced them Marketing provided limited support to renewals and tried to tell new biz sales how to sell. it took months to produce basic material. Product innovation is painfully slow and falling behind. minor UI updates are celebrated while major customer-requested features sit untouched for years and continue to be delayed. leaders "been there forever" and have blinders to the broader industry. pressure for client retention bordered desperation if you're looking to work here, you should inquire about actual W2 earnings, quota attainment & renewals book/ client attrition, percentage of reps hitting numbers, turnover rate internal training felt elementary and chaotic, minimal incoming leads Communication internally is poor sales leadership was MIA in the trenches but seem to inflate their participation to higher-ups. pushed a sell while sleeping culture a comp plan is only good if it's realistic to hit. The company still seems convinced it’s the market leader while ignoring how quickly competitors and newer solutions are evolving.

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