Great ideas and a lot of potential, poor execution - Anonymous employee Unbabel Employee Review

2.0
2 May 2020
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great perks, lot of sports activities, off-sites, free food and snacks - Innovative ideas, business model with lot of potential within the machine translation industry - Competitive salary - Great and smart people you get to work with

Cons

- Structural disorganisation (starting with basic things as accounting, to business critical organisation of departments and relations between them) - Lack of accountability - Lack of basic tools (e.g. for project management) - Not much respect for the work-life balance of the employees - The situation with dismissal of one third of employees in April 2020 where their rights to access the social security payments had been unlawfully denied

avatar
Unbabel Response
6y
Hi former Unbabeler, Thank you for writing an honest review; we really appreciate constructive feedback in order to improve as a company. Allow us to address some of your concerns. It is true that a fast-paced environment does introduce a level of ambiguity and change into the work that we do; that is part of the DNA of a company adapting to the needs of their customers. As a result, we’re constantly reviewing our team structures and internal processes to ensure we are evolving. Regarding tools, as most start-ups we are moving a hundred miles an hour and are always looking for innovative ideas and solutions to make us more efficient. We are always open to suggestions and creative solutions, be it for project management or otherwise, did you suggest adding any software that could solve a need? As you know we have added several software tools as a result of suggestions from other Unbabelers. In terms of work-life balance of the employees we really do not understand how could that be seen as not being in equilibrium; everyone at Unbabel has total freedom to adapt and define their work schedule around their personal life needs, be it related to health, their children or simply gym hours. This reply, for instance, is being created by an Unbabeler in between their kids’ remote classes, as we’re still confined at home, following the advice of health authorities. Finally, we did have to go through a restructuring this year and it was the hardest decision we’ve had to make so far. The entire process was transparent and fully compliant with labor laws - we always ensure that we manage these difficult situations professionally and humanly and ensure that we support our employees in every way that we can. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your new challenge, The Unbabel People Team

Explore other reviews about Unbabel

5.0
15 Apr 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

One of the best things about working for Unbabel is the accessibility of the project managers. They are always great at answering any questions and clearing up any details to make sure you are able to finish your tasks appropriately. The variety of domains also keeps everything fresh. It can be healthcare, IT, e-commerce, or anything else!

Cons

The work flow is unpredictable. Sometimes I can get assignments regularly every week but then I may go through a dry spell of several months before getting another assignment.

1.0
2 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Trips to Portugal were nice, really fun culture

Cons

Incompetent leadership. Burned money like they would raise more forever

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All