Pros
- Some people in managerial positions are great people with sound values and a real dedication to their teams - Very international environment and friendly colleagues from diverse (professional and cultural) backgrounds, some of which are smart - High quality free daily breakfast and occasional free lunches/dinners - From a macro perspective, interesting company as growing so fast and certain interesting projects - Lovely offices and some great colleagues, general good atmosphere
Cons
- Very hostile way of firing people out of the blue for reasons other than performance despite claiming it to be performance-related - in fact, resorting to letting go perfectly capable and high performing employees en masse (see news reports, the number is in fact higher at 500 employees vs. 300) because of having over-hired in certain departments and personal dislike of individuals - Extremely long probation periods which facilitate above unethical firing practices + only 1 week notice (ironic in the face of the company’s focus on “community” and “we are your family” attitude) - Cultish (as many others have pointed out) company culture is being implemented top-down, and quite aggressively so. Very much a "drink the kool aid or you're out" type of company. - The CEO seems to relish his position of power and assumed position as a modern-day messiah, as evidenced by the cheers of certain employees when on stage during summit - Bro-ish and child-like culture despite the focus on "community" and spirituality (the appropriation of yoga/spirituality being an actual insult to the latter) - When employee morale is down, instead of addressing the issues, managers try to bribe employees by offering them drinks/pizza/financial incentives - Greenwashing practices – somebody please tell me how flying over 6000 employees to LA is environmentally friendly? - Management is being told to force employees (especially more junior ones) to attend all kinds of after-work events and wear "swag", which are the company-branded clothes. The sort of thing that certain people seem to enjoy, while feeling contrived for any such person regarding him/herself as a grown adult. - The way performance metrics are developed is opaque, and not in line with what is realistically achievable - whilst it is perfectly understandable to have high standards and push to guarantee the (in a hypergrowth phase company) required continued growth, blind and at times unfounded optimism results in poor employee morale and even mental health problems such as anxiety etc. - While the company states that it values autonomy and entrepreneurship, both these attributes were hard to display on-the-job as suggestions for improvement were often discarded and extreme micromanagement was the norm - People who advance within the company ranks tend to do so because of who they know vs. what they are able to do - Relentless, US-style push for optimism at the expense or realism – expect to have to fake happiness and excitement all the time - Internal processes could be better, countless incentives implemented and subsequently dropped or ignored after a short time, technology used by employees (e.g. phone systems) and website content of very poor quality, resulting in disgruntled customers