Gusto

Cloud payroll and HR management
Last updated:
February 3, 2026
Company details
HQ
HEADCOUNT
1000-2999
ORG TYPE
Startup
SECTOR
Technology & Digital
About the company
Gusto builds cloud software that helps small businesses run payroll, benefits, and HR in one place, with add-ons like 401(k)s and team management tools. The company says Gusto supports 400,000+ small businesses, and the company’s apprenticeship posting also cites serving 500,000+ businesses nationwide. Gusto’s careers materials emphasize a distributed workforce with hub offices and two in-office collaboration days per week for hub-tied roles. The company also publishes a “Total Rewards” philosophy covering healthcare, time away, and employee support.
Locations and presence
The company’s hub offices are in San Francisco, Denver, and New York City, with an additional office presence referenced in Scottsdale (Symmetry). Many roles are remote-capable, but hub-based jobs commonly expect two set in-office days each week.
Palpable Score
68.8
/ 100
Gusto gives early-career candidates a serious on-ramp through a paid Software Engineering Apprenticeship and paid internships with explicit mentor pairing. The score is held back by limited, public, role-by-role evidence on early-career promotions and conversion rates, plus a documented layoff event that adds risk for first-job stability.
Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

13.7
/ 20
  • The company is running a Software Engineering Apprenticeship (Summer 2026) that is 6 months, full-time, paid, and based in San Francisco or New York City (hybrid).
  • Gusto has also hired Software Engineering Interns (including undergrad and grad tracks) and has listed Finance Intern and Legal Intern roles in recent internship cycles.
  • The company’s live role mix still skews experienced (many Staff, Senior, and Lead postings), so entry-level access is strong in a few lanes rather than broad across functions.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

14.0
/ 20
  • The company publishes candidate accommodations guidance (a dedicated email for application help) and includes legal hiring fairness statements in job postings.
  • Gusto’s apprenticeship listing spells out the work style and expectations (daily pairing, mentorship, feedback loops) and includes an explicit pay figure, which is unusually transparent for an early-career pathway.
  • The company has public candidate reports on Glassdoor describing inconsistent follow-up and limited feedback after later-stage interviews, which is a fairness and transparency drawback for juniors.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

15.7
/ 20
  • The company frames the apprenticeship around structured learning: pairing daily with engineers, close mentorship, and “practice feedback as a skill” inside real product work.
  • Gusto’s Software Engineering internship description states each intern is paired with a dedicated mentor and a team manager, embedded into an engineering team roadmap rather than side projects.
  • The company describes employee-led affinity groups and intentional in-office collaboration days “to learn faster,” but Gusto does not publicly share a consistent onboarding curriculum or early-career leveling rubric across functions.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

14.7
/ 20
  • The company posts specific early-career pay for the apprenticeship ($48.08/hour in San Francisco and New York City) and publishes intern hourly rates for software engineering internships in public postings.
  • Gusto’s Total Rewards summary includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision (including mental health support), plus paid time off and longer leave options such as sabbaticals.
  • The company does not show pay ranges consistently for every job family and location across the whole careers site, so pay transparency is strong in some early-career postings but not universal.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

10.7
/ 20
  • The company has repeat early-career hiring signals (multiple internship seasons plus a newly launched 2026 apprenticeship), which points to ongoing entry-level investment rather than a one-off cohort.
  • Gusto has first-person early-career narratives in public writing that describe rapid learning and growing responsibility in a first job, but these are not tied to published promotion timelines or measured conversion outcomes.
  • The company had a reported layoff event affecting 126 people (about 5% of staff at the time), and Gusto does not publish early-career retention, intern conversion rates, or time-to-promotion metrics, which caps confidence on outcomes.

Clear filters
Results
matched jobs
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
👀🔜 No results found — but we’re listening.
Send us a message about what you're looking for at john@bepalpable.com