Back-Stabbing Manager: Empty Promises, Public Shaming - Senior Software Engineer Instacart Employee Review

2.0
22 Jun 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good Benefits, Good People, Good Future.

Cons

Toxic Culture, Back-Stabbing & Empty Promises I volunteered for a “nice-to-have” project with no hard deadline and kept my senior manager in the loop every week—discussing progress, blockers, and next steps in our one-on-one meetings. He’d always say, “I’m here to support you,” but in reality he never offered any tangible help—I was left troubleshooting alone, on an island. Then, in larger meetings with critical stakeholders, he’d feign surprise about our agreed plan and suddenly demand, “Why isn’t this done yet? Are there any blockers? Did you need my help? It's been a week since we've talked about it." He’d treat the project as my personal failure, inventing “issues” we’d already resolved and using the moment to elevate himself. This happened almost every week, eroding my credibility and morale. This guy even suggested that I take a severance package and leave the company. Key Issues: Back-Stabbing Dynamics: Publicly blaming me for “missed” deadlines he’d already acknowledged in private. Empty Promises of Support: Claimed to help but provided no guidance or resources—left me isolated. False Narratives: Framed routine progress discussions as my incompetence. No Escalation Path: Reporting to his skip-level did nothing—and I was ultimately laid off for “performance.”

Explore other reviews about Instacart

5.0
26 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible Hours and Quick Customer Solutions

Cons

Very unpredictable hours and pay

2.0
21 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun going out and talking to people. You will interact with people everyday. You control how much you get paid. Lots of flexibility in the time between accepting an order and traveling to the store and beginning to shop. It isn't pedal to the metal to get to the store like DoorDash is. You can also cancel batches after accepting as long as you keep your rate under 15%. This is different from DoorDash where your rankings will suffer if g.t. 2% cancellation rate.

Cons

There's a learning curve and it takes a while to learn each chain of stores' items. Once you become proficient at one store, the algorithm will lowball your offers relative to other less-experienced Instacart shoppers. Overall, Instacart shoppers likely get paid similar or less than the store's regular employees.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All