Not a great place to work - Anonymous employee Sage Employee Review

1.0
18 Mar 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice colleagues. Office chair is comfortable.

Cons

Neverending cycle of layoffs with most being done quietly. Bonuses and raises get cut further every year as mysterious "internal targets" aren't met. No-one knows what these targets are, but we all know they don't really exist and it's just an excuse to cut salaries. Have a look at the annual report and you'll see the CEO got a fat raise for himself. Looks like the "internal targets" are just for the worker bees. Sage crows about being "human", but the opposite is the case. Upper management seem to be admirers of the DOGE approach to people management. Morale is at an all-time low and getting lower. The all-hands calls are painful with planted questions to the CEO where he can talk about how he loves the return-to-office mandate and has such fun talking to people at the water cooler. This doesn't happen in real life as most people are on calls, if they can find a desk in the office. Annual reviews are also used as a weapon to destroy morale even further as we're forced to rate on a curve, so every team has to have at least one under-performer, even if that's not the reality. HR response is "we don't rate on a curve, we just follow standard distribution." In other words, they admit rating on a curve but lack the awareness to realise this.

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Sage Response
1y
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We appreciate your insights and will consider them as we work to enhance the colleague experience at Sage. We encourage you to discuss your concerns, particularly regarding performance reviews, with your manager and team. They can provide support and help you better track your progress.

Explore other reviews about Sage

5.0
5 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They will work with you and teach you everything you need to know and help you as long as you help yourself and meet kpi but they help you meet it

Cons

No cons to add at this time

3.0
15 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Pay’s decent -Benefits are solid -The Sage Foundation feels like proper philanthropy -Some genuinely nice people -If you’re happy treating work as just a payslip and don’t mind things being a bit dull, Sage is actually quite a comfortable place to be. That stability is a real perk

Cons

-Far too many layers of middle management and general bureaucracy -The Ai push is getting a bit daft -Not especially innovative, so the work can feel quite uninspiring. I’m grateful to be employed, but if you’re after something more interesting, Sage will probably disappoint. That said, some people prefer it that way, fair enough -The office / hybrid requirements feel a bit pointless -Sage doesn’t tend to do layoffs, which is good, but it does mean there are quite a few people where you’re not entirely sure what they do. A lot of meetings, essentially. Even the positives come with trade-offs

4
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Sage Response
1mo
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughtful and balanced review. We’re pleased to hear that you value your compensation and benefits, as well as the work our Foundation do, among the areas you’ve highlighted. We also recognise the points you’ve raised around bureaucracy, innovation, and the pace and focus of change. Different people are motivated by different things at work, and it’s helpful to hear honest perspectives on how our structure, processes, and priorities can impact day‑to‑day experience and engagement. Feedback like yours helps inform ongoing conversations as we continue to evolve our ways of working, use technology more meaningfully, and improve the products and experiences we create for our customers. If you’re open to sharing further insight, we encourage you to do so through our Always Listening survey. Thank you again for your openness and for being part of Sage.
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