Booking.com

Great work environment for women and LGBTQ+ people. I embrace each company values that makes my days start with a positive mental attitude. Great investment by the company in the customer service that leads company to success in the tech areas as well. Equal salary. Lot of learning support but not many career opportunities.

My experience at Booking.com was truly amazing! I had a wonderful time. I started as a temporaty employee and soon they made me a part of the staff, wich i considered as a job promotion. Booking.com is a great place to work. And for sure the best of it is the people working there, my colleagues were always very supportive and we constantly worked as a team, when trying to pursue office’s goals. I connected completly with company’s values, were pleased with all the tools they give us to develop ourselves and also felt appreciate throughout the period I was there. I feel I’ve always been treated fairly and similarly to my male counterparts.

My experience at Booking.com is unique, just because i feel equal to everyone who i work with and the environment is ideal. Every company should operate under those circumstances.

My experience at Booking.com was, unfortunately, not the best. I was let go without any sort of explanation, even though I requested it time and time again (I even wrote to my former manager a year later – because I felt I couldn’t move on – and was told to “not look to the past, just let it go”). I would have definitely preferred to have been told I was underperforming than having been let go the way I was, which knocked my confidence down and made me feel terrified for a while at my next job. I think this doesn’t happen in Booking.com in general, but the office in my country I felt was very poorly managed. There was a lot of sexism (sexist jokes and comments), and some of the male employees managed to get away with things that still shock me. As an example, I once asked for advice to a Senior Account Manager – I was an Account Manager then – on what was the best way forward when dealing with flirty hotel managers, only to be told “boohoo, poor pretty girl”. On another occasion, the same man went around the office showing a picture of his “privates” to the women, pretending to be joking around. This guy has been promoted several times since I left, which doesn’t resonate well with me.
I have a few more examples of other things that I felt were very wrong with that office – which I’m not going to get into detail now – and I feel it’s a shame, because for what I can see and read Booking is not like this as a whole. Then I guess it’s a shame there are some of its offices around the world that manage to get away with behaviours like this, which really bring the brand down.

Equal pay – salary data is not available, however the company underwent calibration of all roles in tech, data science and product in 2016. It means everyone (gender/ company age irrelevant) underwent feedback and performance review (this considered feedback from all peer groups) and ended either keeping their job, or going to junior or senior rank. This , i felt was done quite objectively. Each of the levels has salary bandwidth (from X-to Y) assigned to it, which means equalizing pay on role level, not gender level, at least in theory.
Career Advancement – i still think there is bit of gender bias here. Personally I keep hearing comments of being “emotional” or “too strong” and it did cost me promotion. But maybe i am biased.
Supportive culture – depends where you are. This is getting more formalized but since the enviroment is very flat, it is bit of organized chaos. So depending who is your manager, you may be left alone or being supported. I think there is this empowerment here of individual – so if you want more, you go and ask for more. If you are not happy with support you get from manager, you can go and get it from their manager ,your peers, coach, mentor etc.
Family friendly – i am not sure as I do not have one, but in general it is encouraged not to do overtime, you are encouraged to push back and restore your life balance, but this is completely up to you.

Equal pay from what I know, however, not great pay. Women are valued and a lot of women are in leadership. The culture is pretty great which makes up for the lack of pay. Very diverse and accepting of all people.

Unfortunately my experience at B.com was not the best. Sadly our GM at our local office was let go given many controversies from his management and behaviour. Apparently he had spent company money on non-business expenses and promoted former coleagues of his bringing them as ex-pats who had no previous managerial experience and had not been to my country before. After that I feel that the company never got back to the nice place it used to be before because it grew so much. I had to leave when the HR manager, and two senior account managers (all male) locked me at a meeting room and made me sign a personal development plan and a huge warning to keep my mouth shut. I would have thought that procedure would never had happened at a place like B.com, but it did happen to me.

However, while at B.com I learned a lot and grew professionaly. Even that unfortunate event empowered me. If you are those who do not complain when management seems to tweak, you will find B.com one of the best employers of your life.

I worked for Booking.com for almost a year and I still wonder why I left the company. Booking.com is a superb place to work, full of diversity, creativity and talent. As other tech companies there are more male employees in the IT area, but this effect is partially mitigated by the female employees who work in marketing and other areas of the business.

Booking.com is a place that motivates you to succeed. Gives you all the tools to improve your knowledge and makes great activities to build relationship with other workmates. Comparing to other companies where I worked, I really appreciate that Booking tries the best to make his staff happy making a good combination between their personal and professional life, and that could be translated to: home-working, flexible work hours, open spaces, last devices…

I have worked in B.com for 6 years. Excelent company…they celebrete diversity! In my personal experience was and amazing cultural enviroment.
The payment is no the ideal but is in not a gender issue.
About matternity leaves is according to each country law.

I’ve been working for the company for over a decade and I’ve worked in the IT department all that time. In backend development (where I work) and in the operational parts of IT, there are hardly women; there are more in fronted development. But that’s mostly because of the lack of women applying (for a period of two years, I was involved in the interview process; of the many dozens of people I interviewed, either the initial phone interview, or the face-to-face interview, I only spoke to a female candidate once). But company wide, women outnumber men — by a 2:1 ratio according to the last figures I saw.

As for equal pay, that’s hard to say. In IT, it’s individually negotiated; and we’re encouraged not to share compensation information. All I can say is that I cannot complain; I’m making far more than I made in any previous job.

Career advancement is lacking in IT. Sure, there are all kinds of possibilities if you’re willing to do people management tasks, and you can quickly rise up the ladder that way. But if you just want to excel in technical tasks, there’s no career advancement. However, that doesn’t seem to be gender related.

No idea about “family friendly”, or “supportive culture”. Unlike most of the other people at Booking.com, I’m not an expat, nor do I live near the city. I have the luxury of being able to work from home (I got hired in a period when developers were allowed to work from home, and they still honor that, even after changing the policy of working from home), and only come into the office once or twice a week, when I just focus on the work that needs to be done. Booking.com is just work for me, and nothing more.

I work for Booking.com as a freelancer, so my experience might be quite different from women who actually work IN the company. As a freelance translator I feel I’ve always been treated fairly and similarly to my male counterparts. I do not feel like gender plays any part in the freelance translating community at Booking. I don’t know how they do with pregnancy leave though, as I do not have children.

As an older worker I did experience ageism – perhaps not blatant and outright but enough that is was clear the company is meant for the Millennial or younger Boomer. I have a great deal of respect for the company and its’ values, however if it really wants to address all “isms” this one is perhaps an issue that can easily hide behind words such as “downsizing or rightsizing” in your HR reports. I believe Booking wants to rid the company of “isms” so suggest you look at your average age – who you hire and who you let go. THAT would likely be very revealing.

Booking.com is an excellent place to work. A great atmosphere with very talent people, both male and female. I can honestly say that this is the most diverse place I have ever worked. Aa Brit who has lived abroad for over half my life I consider myself “international”, or at least I did until I met some of my colleagues at Booking.com. But this doesn’t mean that the company rests on it’s laurels. The organization and our leadership are constantly busy improving our culture and how we work together to be more inclusive & diverse. In a time where fear and bigotry are rampant I am truly proud to have the privilege to work for this world class organization.

Great place to work

Booking.com is a great place to work. The leadership actively monitor and seek to ensure diversity and equal opportunities. As a new mum I was fully supported by my colleagues and HR both during my pregnancy and on my return to work following my maternity leave. While there my be more males than females in the IT department, this is something the company are always focused on improving, e.g. There is an upcoming all female hackathon where women from across the world will be flown to the Amsterdam HQ to collaborate.