Canonical reviews

3.2

48% would recommend to a friend

(440 total reviews)

Mark Shuttleworth

39% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

Canonical has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 440 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Canonical 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

440 reviews
5.0
Aug 27, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Canonical has a very technical culture from the executives on down, and for me (and I think for many others) that's a big plus compared to the corporate cultures of companies I've worked at in the past. There's a real focus on getting technical designs right and taking time for quality. The flexibility of remote work -- with the perk of twice-a-year travel -- is also really good. They also have a nice awards/recognition program for staff that go above and beyond, with meaningful cash "prizes" to match. And lastly, almost all of our work is open source!

Cons

Each of those pros comes with a con: the highly technical culture and willingness to get designs right means higher-ups sometimes go too far and micromanage things they probably shouldn't -- you have to be willing to handle the feedback and the slower pace. Fully-remote work is flexible but depending on your personality you will miss the office. Salaries are competitive, but not quite at FAANG levels. And of course, our interview process is (in)famously long and thorough -- be prepared for that going in.

avatar
Canonical Response
2y
Thank you for your 5 star review and for sharing your experience of working here. I am guessing you might have received an employee recognition reward this month! If this is correct....well done! It is really great that you were proposed on the back of some excellent work. Our regular 'sprints' allow for us to travel to one location and meet up in person. We feel it is important that we come together in person a few times a year at least and it helps to balance out the time we spend working remotely. Our interview process is continually going through review. This year we have been training our interviewers and have been working to better our interview plans. These two projects will be complete by the end of 2023. We will then start looking closely at judgement and decisions made to really understand the value this brings. Since introducing the current process in 2021 we have seen a notable increase in the exceptional talent we hire. This has demonstrated that our process has enabled us to attract and select world class people to join our teams. The process is not short and we set high standards but it does bring us great results. Our people are the backbone to our organisation and we are determined we will take time to select the best colleagues we can.
5.0
Oct 16, 2014

Interesting work, smart people

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You find yourself working in teams with many remarkable people. All companies have dead-wood, but at Canonical I have found that proportion to be smaller than any other place I have worked. You have a lot of freedom around the times that you work, and for some teams, freedom about how you do your work.

Cons

Working from home isn't for everyone. You neeed to make sure you get enough social contact outside of work. Some people have a tendency to work long hours and are prone to burn-out.

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Glassdoor has 509 Canonical reviews submitted anonymously by Canonical employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Canonical is right for you.