When politics outweigh performance
Pros
* Good work-life balance overall. * Flexible hybrid arrangement with up to four days working from home per week. * Compensation is generally in line with the market.
Cons
* Favoritism appears to influence not only career progression, recognition, and compensation, but also resource allocation. Some teams consistently received additional support and headcount, while others lost engineers without replacement, making long-term planning and delivery increasingly difficult. * Leadership quality is inconsistent. Some managers have limited engagement with their teams and a noticeably reduced day-to-day presence, while still exercising significant influence over performance assessments, promotions, and other key decisions. Public criticism is occasionally used instead of constructive feedback. * At least one key leadership position is occupied by someone with limited technical understanding of the products, systems, and challenges faced by engineering teams. * Performance reviews are conducted after salary review decisions have already been finalized. This significantly reduces confidence in the fairness and purpose of the process, as compensation outcomes appear to be determined before performance discussions take place. * Leadership turnover within the department has been exceptionally high. The vast majority of teams lost their team lead over the last 18 months, and in some cases leadership replacements also proved short-lived, raising further concerns about stability, continuity, and long-term career growth. * Despite the high level of turnover, exit interviews were not conducted. Given the number of departures, the lack of a structured process for collecting and escalating employee feedback was difficult to understand.
