There is a disturbing trend of protecting managers who lack basic technical competence. It is common to see managers sitting in high-level technical meetings unable to follow the conversation, leading to friction and the bullying of engineers who actually understand the stack.
When serious bullying / harassing issues are raised, the response is often performative. Instead of removing toxic leaders, HR tends to just "reduce their remit." For example, removing a manager from one team but letting them keep their other team is a superficial fix that ignores the core issue. It signals that toxic behaviour is tolerated as long as it’s shuffled around.
A clear "insider" culture exists that feels biased against non-British staff. There have been multiple instances where non-British employees were socially excluded or targeted. This environment feels increasingly unwelcoming for international talent.
Growth is often blocked by these same managers. Rather than supporting professional development, leadership seems more interested in shifting blame to subordinates to cover for their own lack of expertise.