5 or 6 years ago, Zynga paid quite well for a Toronto tech company but over the past few years a lot of big names have driven up the average TC for software engineers in Toronto. Zynga has unfortunately, not kept up (and likely just unable to) in the compensation department. There were cases of some very tenured folks at the studio getting paid around the same as some new grads
This is not even a fault of the managers in most cases though, as the pool available for raises and promotion seems to be pitifully limited and it's basically outside their control. It's also just an implicit understanding that in most cases, one would need to be operating at the next level for an extended period of time (sometimes a year or more) before being actually promoted into that position.
The Toronto studio has grown in size quickly over the past few years. Most companies going through a growth spurt inevitably lose some of the charm and office culture that only a small studio can offer. You quickly lose the ability and drive to know people’s names as the headcount approaches 200, and the whole studio starts feeling more business-like as the company pursues growth goals. Keeping up a good office culture largely depends on the managers pushing said culture throughout their teams and many of the newer managers don’t seem to care much about this.
