It’s been about a year since the mass layoff. Looking back, it’s clear the company’s decisions were not based on hard work, but on personal favourites. Speaking of which, the mass layoff within the product team was ultimately decided by one person alone and who that person chose need not be a part of the company anymore so as to cut costs. What was said to the affected employees was “Your performance has nothing to do with us letting you go”. While leadership publicly claimed performance wasn't a factor, internal reality suggested a culture of nepotism: those "chummy" with the C-suite were promoted, while those disliked were dismissed. The flippant attitude towards employees' livelihoods is staggering.
Operationally, the company is a vacuum for time and resources. Projects are frequently scrapped or overridden by the C-suite manager " who is consistently late and disconnected from said person's team’s actual work. Professional expertise and qualifications are disregarded in favour of a "too many cooks" environment where your work is constantly undermined by non-experts.
Most concerning is the unethical handling of compensation. Despite completing my year of service, my bonus was withheld. When I raised this, the CEO’s response was openly dictatorial and told me that reporting it would be a "hard and long battle" and that I should just let it go. The CEO also raised their voice, demanding I close my laptop in case of being recorded. This is not leadership; it is bullying.
