Synthesia reviews

4.4

86% would recommend to a friend

(161 total reviews)

88% positive business outlook

Synthesia has an employee rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 161 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Synthesia employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

161 reviews
3.0
Nov 6, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is working on an exciting product in a pivotal area of technology, particularly within the AI space. The environment is well-suited for outgoing, extroverted individuals who enjoy visibility and having their voices heard in the organization. The company has many intelligent, driven, and genuinely kind individuals, making it a collaborative and inspiring place to work. Synthesia offers competitive pay, good health benefits, and provides twice-weekly lunches for employees in the office. The leadership team is approachable and receptive to new ideas.

Cons

One point to consider when reading Glassdoor reviews: employees are asked to leave a review as part of their onboarding process within the first month. As such, some early positive reviews may not reflect a complete picture of the employee experience. While the company has an exciting product and is at the forefront of the AI industry, the "work hard, play hard" culture can be demanding, especially for those who prefer a more balanced work-life environment. While "velocity" is a core company value, the push for speed sometimes leads to employee burnout and high stress. I frequently observed team members feeling overwhelmed, but it seemed to be the standard. Synthesia has recently brought on several new leaders and executives., which has influenced a shift towards a more corporate structure. There is a growing sense that the company is trying to transition into a more corporate organization, moving away from the agile, scale-up culture. Also, several long-tenured senior leaders have recently departed, further adding to this change. Over the past year, numerous employees have been let go without clear explanations, contributing to uncertainty and a lack of transparency within the organization. The marketing team seems to frequently hire externally to address challenges, despite having a large team for a company of this size. This means a constant influx of new hires, rather than leveraging the expertise of the existing team. Additionally, there is a sense that some leadership roles, particularly in marketing, may require more experience to effectively manage teams at the company’s current stage of growth. The lack of clear goals and vision within the marketing department makes it difficult to work effectively in an environment that lacks direction. Some employees exhibit a sense of entitlement or false importance, which can create tension within teams and impact the overall company culture. They tend to prioritize work over people, creating an environment that lacks empathy and understanding, where employees’ well-being often takes a backseat.

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Synthesia Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on our culture. I completely agree with many of your points, especially about the amazing people at Synthesia—our team truly makes it a special place to work. Synthesia has a high-performance culture, driven by our collective desire to build something groundbreaking. As we define our category and create new use cases for our product, we face obstacles to growth and innovation, but we’re excited by this inflection point as we bring in new leadership to help us scale. Change is tough, but adapting, testing, learning, and collaborating, is what will keep our culture strong. Our high-performance culture is designed to bring out the best in our team, and we understand it may not be the perfect fit for everyone—and that’s perfectly okay. For those who may be facing challenges, we prioritize open, constructive feedback and provide opportunities to grow and excel while respecting their privacy. Though we’ve seen some attrition, our rates remain well below the industry average of 10%, reflecting our commitment to fostering a supportive and driven environment. You raise an interesting point on the "people first," approach. We very much think about our P’s in this order - People, Product, Profit. We may not have specific initiatives like wellbeing days, but we do prioritize our people through generous time off, healthcare, individualized support during personal challenges, and initiatives like occupational health and bereavement leave extensions. We always aim to handle these personal matters with care and empathy. I would love to dive a bit deeper into your takeaways, so please do feel free to reach out directly. One thing we can be sure of is change, so if you have ideas for improvements, let's talk about it. Hope to speak soon!
3.0
Sep 21, 2025

Driven by talent, stalled by the product

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Keep in mind that many of the reviews are posted by people who joined less than 2 months ago. The best part of this company is the people you work with day to day. At the IC level, colleagues are genuinely kind, helpful, and collaborative. Some senior leaders are also supportive, but this becomes less common the further up you go. The product itself is fun to work on, and given the industry’s early stage, the company is positioned to be a market leader. Relatively easy to keep an empty calendar if you want, depending on your role. Work life balance possible in many teams. An effort from leaders to maintain a good culture with flexible hours, WFH options, a nice office, team lunches, snacks, and social events.

Cons

Career progression doesn’t exist. Meaningful promotions are rare, and new roles almost always go to external hires, no matter how strong the internal talent. The atmosphere feels unstable. Employees, including strong performers, often leave. Suddenly. And without explanation. If someone leaves, their workload lands on your plate. Don’t expect more pay or even a title change for taking it on. The product and strategy change constantly. No one knows what’s working because nothing typically sticks long enough. The sales narrative often feels stronger than the product itself, which doesn’t always deliver on expectations—particularly at the current price point, which also creates many pain points for the Sales teams. Work life balance can be very tough in R&D and Product teams.

3.0
Sep 28, 2025

Culture being lost in pursuit for growth

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Historically been rather flexible in work/life balance. Ambitious workforce Intelligent colleagues amongst the best at what they do

Cons

Shifting towards a more corporate feel Office days are becoming mandatory A focus on growth at the expense of addressing current issues No real movement internally

Viewing 1 - 3 of 161 Reviews

Glassdoor has 166 Synthesia reviews submitted anonymously by Synthesia employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Synthesia is right for you.