Toxic culture and stuck in the past - Software Developer Fortinet Employee Review

2.0
10 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only thing this place is good for is to gather number of years on resume or to break the no experience barrier that a lot of new grads face. You will learn a lot about what NOT to do at this compnay and how years and even decades of bad technical decisions lead to bad outcomes. Good learnings on technical debt, dealing with toxic managers, firefighting issues in production. A good chance to learn about Linux System adminstration and Cybersecurity landscape.

Cons

I started my career at fortinet and I was unlucky enough to land in a team with heavy technical debt and severe intertia. The tech stack is largely legacy (Perl, PHP, Bash scripts with some hacked up Python and Go) and there is absolutely no interest in modernization and you are often asked to keep things running as they are. Managers largely do not care about your mental health or growth within the company. Culture of yes men is prevalent and is the way to survive and thrive in the company. Be it benefits, paid time off or any other perks company does the bare minimum required by law. There are some teams where its not as chaotic or toxic but those are hard to get into and are on the other side of the border (United States). The founders and higher management are oblivious to the conditions of the staff in the company and are simply intrested in running a sweatshop. It might not be appearent at first, but there is defintiely a bias towards Chinese nationality in the company and when I was there I heard interviews being offered in Mandarin for some candidates. Although the official policy is "speak english", this is not at all adhered to and people speak Mandarin/Cantonese with each other which can feel exclusionary to people from outside the culture. HR in the company is there to protect the company from you and not the other way around. (as expected). They also practice "corporate honeypotting/loyalty test" for Insider Threat Testing to create fake accounts about Employees at the company acting as whistleblowers to see if you co-operate with them on LinkedIn. If you are a new grad and are not in deep desepration please avoid this compnay at all costs for your own mental health and sanity.

Explore other reviews about Fortinet

5.0
25 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1. WLB is good. Working hours are flexible. I can go to the office at 11 2. No politics in the office 3. No micro-management

Cons

1. Pay is not competitive 2. Few Benefits

1.0
1 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- It "used to be" work life balance - great manager(only works if you work for the right guy)

Cons

- It used to be a visa-friendly, all of a sudden, the company decides to review everyone's visa extension without any further transparent notice. - Pay is way more lower than industry average. - It varies depends on team. Follow the right boss, you will be in heaven. Follow the wrong boss, you will enjoy "Chinese 996 management" - Old technical skillsets Don't come.

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