Here’s a professional but strongly critical review draft you could post publicly or adapt for sites like Glassdoor:
Working at Sage has been a frustrating experience, largely because there’s a disconnect between what leadership says publicly and what employees actually deal with day to day.
One of the biggest issues is the constant pressure around sales targets, despite management insisting that “it’s not sales.” The expectations, KPIs, and conversations all revolve around hitting numbers, so pretending otherwise just damages trust with staff.
Another major problem is the use of NPS as an individual KPI. Customer satisfaction should be a company-wide responsibility, not something used to pressure individual employees when many factors are outside of their control. It creates unnecessary stress and encourages box-ticking instead of genuine customer care.
Management regularly talks about listening to employees, but feedback rarely leads to meaningful action. Concerns are acknowledged in meetings and surveys, then quietly ignored. Morale suffers because people feel unheard and unsupported.
When staff struggle with workload or stress, the default response is often to point people toward the “Employee Assistance Program” rather than addressing the actual causes of burnout. Offering a phone number or external support service is not the same as fixing toxic workloads, unrealistic expectations, or poor management practices.
Stress-related sickness is becoming increasingly common, which says a lot about the environment. Too many employees are burning out while leadership continues to focus on metrics and attendance rather than wellbeing.
There’s also a noticeable culture of favoritism and what appears like nepotism despite the company claiming to oppose it. Career progression often feels based more on who you know and whether you fit into certain social circles than on performance or ability. Many talented people end up stuck in the same role with little opportunity to grow unless their “face fits.”
The bonus structure tied to office attendance has also hurt morale. It feels outdated and unfair, especially when many roles can be done effectively remotely. The bonus is based on your core role plus what you do outside of that and “behaviour”. They frame not coming into the office 3 days a week as bad behaviour and always threaten bonus being affected to get you to comply.
To make matters worse, employees are expected to support multiple products and increased workloads without additional compensation. Responsibilities continue to grow, but pay and recognition do not reflect the extra demands being placed on staff.
Overall, Sage talks a lot about culture, wellbeing, and employee support, but the reality often feels very different. There are good people working there, but leadership and workplace culture need significant improvement.
