This company used to be a genuinely great place to work. There were a lot of friendly, talented people who cared about what they did. Unfortunately, as a contractor, there’s always a chance you’ll be dropped into another company’s toxic leadership environment, which can completely derail your workflow and force you into becoming a “yes man” just to survive.
The inner workings of this company are unlike anything I’ve seen. But beneath that surface is a deeply strange loyalty hierarchy. After multiple rounds of layoffs (some of which were swept under the rug without informing the company) they continue to show unwavering loyalty to their HR departments while cutting the people who actually build and deliver the product, like engineers, designers, producers, etc. It feels like they operate on a protect-your-own kind mentality that values personal alliances over the actual needs of the company.
Working in a co-dev environment, my first project was particularly rough. From the very first day, I was dropped into a toxic work environment that made it hard to do my best work. Thankfully my producer at the time was fantastic and helped me to navigate the chaos. Once you get past the immediate leadership layer, everything above seems to happen behind closed doors. Decisions are made in secrecy, and when layoffs roll around (there’s been lots), there’s always some level of blame shifting towards one reason or another.
After years of loyalty and hard work, I was laid off without even a conversation with my direct manager, the person who was supposed to advocate for me.
And speaking of them, when it came time to actually face the people they managed in a negative situation like this, they didn’t even have the nerve to show up and face me. They hid behind HR, refusing to answer questions or offer any sort of closure (which speaks volumes about their lack of professionalism and basic respect). The layoff meeting was a joke. It was a last second video call that was rude, tone-deaf, and unnecessarily hostile. I basically had to sit there for fifteen minutes while they berated me.
It was a gutless move by my so-called “team leader,” to no-show the meeting, provide no closure, and hide behind HR, and that perfectly summed up their rookie management style and the wider lack of accountability and integrity that runs through this company.
It’s hard to describe how demoralizing it is to pour years of effort into a place led by people who vanish the moment things get difficult.