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Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

susanjfowler.com

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Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#101

Post by sokoloff »

u_wot_m8 wrote: post #86
sokoloff wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my positive thing. Taking a cab to the airport from my house in Cambridge, MA runs about $42 before tip, so call it $48 or so. An UberX costs $24.30 right now and UberPool costs $14.30 right now. Additionally, I can summon the ride more easily and get better feedback about the arrival time, giving me more confidence/less anxiety that I'll have a problem getting to the airport on time. As a consumer, by reducin…

You could say the same about lyft, seemingly minus the illegal and immoral behavior, though they might get away with the same behavior due to not being in the spotlight as much as Uber

Sure. Being able to say a positive thing about Jane does not diminish the positive thing that I say about Susan.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#102

Post by BinaryIdiot »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #30
jackweirdy wrote: post #13

> The HR rep began the meeting by asking me if I had noticed that I was the common theme in all of the reports I had been making That's such a meaningless thing for an HR person to ask someone, that it clearly only serves to be patronising and hopefully stop them bringing problems up. I mean, how could you as an HR staffer possibly justify your inaction with an argument like that? "We didn't act on any of their compl…

HR serves to protect the company, you have to think in HR's shoes. If the complainant goes away and finds another job the problem is solved. Most harassment cases tend not to end up in court, usually the aggrieved party quits.

> HR serves to protect the company, you have to think in HR's shoes. If the complainant goes away and finds another job the problem is solved.

While it's true HR is there for protect the company it's false to say that if a complainant just "goes away" that the problem is solved. HR also has to ensure the company keeps a good culture, avoids lawsuits and stays a great place to work for the majority to ensure talent is not only attracted but kept.

Thinking about ignoring or making complaints just go away isn't protecting the company. It's literally harming the company and its employees.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#103

Post by jacquesm »

sokoloff wrote: post #71
u_wot_m8 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like the think that eventually karma will catch up with Uber. Hard to think of a single positive thing to say about the company.

Here's my positive thing. Taking a cab to the airport from my house in Cambridge, MA runs about $42 before tip, so call it $48 or so. An UberX costs $24.30 right now and UberPool costs $14.30 right now. Additionally, I can summon the ride more easily and get better feedback about the arrival time, giving me more confidence/less anxiety that I'll have a problem getting to the airport on time. As a consumer, by reducin…

Uber can afford to subsidize your ride for the next 10 years or so. That doesn't mean it's long term viable, it just means that they're pumping money from one pot to another until the first one is empty and won't be refilled.

They've raised over $10B...

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#104

Post by Rapzid »

dkarapetyan wrote: post #66

Susan is ~an industry veteran~ a somewhat experienced engineer and her interactions with HR are typical of what I've seen so I would have expected her to know how things would play out. In my experience HR is never there to protect the employees. HR is there to make sure the company doesn't get into any hot legal waters. Most of the time the easiest way to do that is to just suppress any wrongdoing and sideline whoev…

I wouldn't qualify her as an industry veteran. This is not how things would have played out at a lot of the risk-adverse companies I have worked for. I'm sure it does at some places and it's no surprise to hear this about Uber TBH. Being just a couple years out of college, I'm not sure why you would expect her to understand all the shity ways the world can work.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#105

Post by jacquesm »

cbanek wrote: post #96
jacquesm wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's hard for me to understand why she didn't immediately start trying to GTFO, but instead stuck around for a year and tried to make things work. Some possibilities: - Because she's loyal to her co-workers - Maybe still not jaded enough to jump ship at the first reason - quite possibly didn't have another job lined up to jump ship to A year isn't all that long, and if things had been turned around who knows she mi…

A year is a typical vesting schedule for stock options though.

I read nothing about options in the article, did she mention those somewhere else?

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#106

Post by tyingq »

projektir wrote: post #31

Wow, this is unreal. I could expect mistreatment at various companies, but something so overt? Thank you Susan for writing this. > "performance problems aren't always something that has to do with work, but sometimes can be about things outside of work or your personal life." Also, this seems many species of wrong. I don't really see why your personal life should have any relevance to a performance review.

I read it as "outside of your work" and also "outside of your personal life". Which is even more perplexing.

What a strange company all around.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#107

Post by grey-area »

j_s wrote: post #61
grey-area wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Suing would have lots of negative consequences, and few upsides. It would take up months of time, be immensely frustrating, stressful and lead other employers to be wary of you in future (even if most wouldn't admit it). Your name would be dragged through the mud by Uber in an attempt to derail the case, and you'd become an online target for haters (as with Ellen Pao). All for some uncertain monetary reward. Who need…

Companies such as Uber will continue these destructive behaviors until they face genuine consequences that impact their bottom line. You have summarized a number of reasons why I would never ask anyone to volunteer to be the one to accomplish this. This entire episode will hopefully shine some light on the true difficulties that need to be overcome to promote STEM diversity.

This could lead to genuine consequences, perhaps more than a lawsuit.

Anyway, we shouldn't even be talking about what she is doing, how about the evil actions of Uber?

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#108

Post by hackerboos »

sokoloff wrote: post #71
u_wot_m8 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like the think that eventually karma will catch up with Uber. Hard to think of a single positive thing to say about the company.

Here's my positive thing. Taking a cab to the airport from my house in Cambridge, MA runs about $42 before tip, so call it $48 or so. An UberX costs $24.30 right now and UberPool costs $14.30 right now. Additionally, I can summon the ride more easily and get better feedback about the arrival time, giving me more confidence/less anxiety that I'll have a problem getting to the airport on time. As a consumer, by reducin…

That 50-70% is a loss leader for Uber. Did you read the post of their financials? They are hemorrhaging money.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-deliver...

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#109

Post by maxerickson »

jacquesm wrote: post #44

What's with all the 'this is unbelievable' comments here? This is absolutely believable, Uber has pretty much made it their standard to break the laws where-ever they can, why should work place conduct be any different? In for a penny, in for a pound. You'd never hear something even close to this from Stripe or some other company run by upstanding folks. Fish rots from the head.

The one comment that literally matches "this is unbelievable" isn't saying it literally.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#110

Post by HarryHirsch »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #102
HarryHirsch wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HR serves to protect the company, you have to think in HR's shoes. If the complainant goes away and finds another job the problem is solved. Most harassment cases tend not to end up in court, usually the aggrieved party quits.

> HR serves to protect the company, you have to think in HR's shoes. If the complainant goes away and finds another job the problem is solved. While it's true HR is there for protect the company it's false to say that if a complainant just "goes away" that the problem is solved. HR also has to ensure the company keeps a good culture, avoids lawsuits and stays a great place to work for the majority to ensure talent is…

No, no, it's leadership that sets the culture. HR is merely the arm of the leadership.
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