Databricks
Large (~7,000)
Mercor
Small (~200)
Best For
Databricks
Best for: Data engineers who want strong comp and deep technical pedigree at scale
Mercor
Best for: Engineers who want to build AI hiring infrastructure at a $10B rocketship with extreme ownership and MIT-founder energy
Ratings
DatabricksMercor
4.1
3.9
Overall
3.9
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.0
3.6
Culture & Values
4.3
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.8
3.5
Senior Mgmt
3.9
3.7
Career Opps
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Ali Ghodsi)
👍 74% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Brendan Foody)
Culture Values
Databricks only
🌱 Learning & Growth🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🎯 Direct Product Impact
Mercor only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🤝 Flat Hierarchy
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Pros & Cons
Databricks
- Engineers who built Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow — deep technical pedigree
- Strong compensation and equity packages consistently above market
- Hypergrowth means org changes are constant — teams restructure frequently
- Some legacy Spark-era tech debt that can slow down new features
Mercor
- Massive impact at an AI company growing at breakneck speed
- Top-tier compensation with strong equity at $10B valuation
- Intense 9/9/6 work schedule — long hours are the norm
- Work-life balance is a real sacrifice at this stage
Bottom Line
Databricks
Choose Databricks if you want elite data infrastructure work with strong equity — but brace for constant org changes.
Mercor
Choose Mercor if you want outsized impact on AI-era hiring at a tiny, fast-moving team — but the 9/9/6 schedule is real, and work-life balance is genuinely sacrificed for speed.
Open Roles
Databricks — 842 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
353
💻 Engineering
284
📋 Product
39
📣 Marketing
34
📊 Data
22
👤 HR / People
12
🧠 ML / AI
12
⚙️ Operations
11
🎨 Design
6
💰 Finance
5
⚖️ Legal
5
Mercor — 49 jobs
💻 Engineering
20
🧠 ML / AI
6
💼 Sales / GTM
5
👤 HR / People
3
📊 Data
2
📣 Marketing
2
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Summary
Databricks scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Mercor scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Strong Comp & Equity. Databricks also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Diverse & Inclusive, Direct Product Impact. Mercor also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Flat Hierarchy.
On the hiring front, Databricks has 842 open roles and Mercor has 49 open roles.