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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

#331

Post by caconym_ »

Bald-faced lying seems to be the name of the game in HR. My first significant encounter with any HR organization ended up with me catching them in a lie trying to manipulate me into signing something (I never did sign it). I was astonished by how ready and willing they apparently were to try this strategy on me. It was a good learning experience, in retrospect, and I'm glad that I did not fall for it.

This was at a company that generally treated me alright and was staffed with generally reasonable people, so I can't imagine the Kafkaesque nightmare that it must be to work at a notoriously chaotic, evil company like Uber, especially as a woman (which I am not).

The lesson, as so many other people in this thread have already said, is that HR is not looking out for you. Keep your own counsel and get everything in writing, and prepare for their attempts to bully and gaslight you into a marginalized position.

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

#333

Post by um_ya »

knucklesandwich wrote: post #303
home_boi wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm of the opinion that the average software engineer in the USA is already overpaid and underworked with excellent benefits and low incentive to unionize. I'm simplifying it a bit but if you don't like your job, just grab a copy of Cracking the Coding Interview and apply to big companies. The big companies pay very well, have good benefits and interview everyone because of the need for a high head count

First of all, it should be all tech workers that unionize, not just software engineers. And you should talk to some of your fellow workers and ask if they all think they're being fairly compensated. Even aside from the issue of salary, tech workers are rarely given a fair stake in ownership in the company, and their equity grants often come with lots of clauses to deprive them from what little stake they have. I sugg…

Unions originated as a way to commoditise labor. It has since grown into a way to keep out freelance competitors, and to force employers into doing things (both of which I don't agree with). In terms of commoditsing labor, tech is a very skill specific profession with no cookie cutter employee to sell, which makes it a bad candidate for unions.

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

#334

Post by projektir »

Mz wrote: post #314
projektir wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is one reason victim blaming is popular: If it is their fault, then other people don't have to wonder what they might do differently or get off their lazy duff and walk the walk instead of just engaging in smack talk. I think the true reason is a bit deeper: victim blaming means that bad events can be compartmentalized to be the victim's problem. So a person engaging in it doesn't have to emotionally deal with t…

Good comment, but: That being said, I don't know if I'd call "she should sue" victim-blaming, even though the reason is probably about the same. This reminds me of some of the BS I have seen where people insist a woman should prosecute her rapist. One of the problems with this line of reasoning is that it makes it the victim's responsibility to try to right this wrong. What if she just wants to put the whole damn thi…

Hmm, perhaps I misunderstand the term?

I thought victim blaming referred to specifically blaming the victim for the event itself as / before it happened. Not for what the victim did or didn't do afterwards. Unsolicited advice, in poor taste, but not victim blaming by the definition I'm aware of.

I think most people here asking to sue want to see Uber pay, and they don't really have any equivalent leverage against Uber. There's more victim blaming in the "you should have known how HR works / you should have left" comments.

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

#335

Post by pweissbrod »

blhack wrote: post #277
bootload wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Culture was extremely heavy on the drinking;" For me this is a red flag. Booze + programming == pissed programming This leads to bad code also bad team dynamics. Ultimately this will reflect on the product and bottom line. For individuals this reads like a culture where the barrel is creating ^bad apples^. Not a good look on a resume.

I have to be honest, I know a lot of people who claim that they can write really good code if they've been drinking. I just absolutely do not understand how that is even possible. If I have ONE beer, it throws off my ability to write good code, or hold all of the concepts in my head. One of the weekly coworking meetups I go to always ends at a brewery (there is a brewery next door to the hackerspace where it is held)…

They likely dont tackle work of significant complexity

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

#336

Post by [deleted] »

kevinburke wrote: post #53
jmduke wrote: post #17

I am struggling to think of something productive to contribute to this discussion, because this absolutely incensed me. In lieu of anything else: Susan deserves to be commended for her bravery in writing this.

If an Uber recruiter contacts you, bring this up and tell them their nonfunctioning HR department makes working for their company a non starter. If you work at Uber, quit, and/or contact the board and tell them that this behavior is unacceptable and the people responsible need to be fired. If the culture won't change, the CEO needs to be fired. If you work in tech, bring up this article with your manager or CEO and t…

[deleted]

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

#337

Post by craigvn »

ben_olive wrote: post #219

HR fucked up and the manager should not have talked to her that way. Absolutely agree. I believe she has grounds to sue if she wishes. Now, I think it's easy to take this type of situations and overeact. The behavior Susan described is not appropriate. That said, I think there is a trend to classify any romantic behavior or advances as sexual assault and innpapropriate behavior. Nowadays I would have a very hard time…

If you work with someone for a period and get to know them well then maybe asking them out might be ok. But straight up asking the new employee for sex never is.

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

#338

Post by brudgers »

kevinburke wrote: post #197

Mike Isaac (reporter for the New York Times) is collecting more stories of harassment & toxic work environment at Uber: https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/833445850130944000

One of the things that this article got me thinking about is how much less effective that model is. Sure, some Sunday from now, maybe there's a NYT expose that reaches a national audience. Before that happens, the NYT reporters will reach out to Uber senior management for comment and give it time to compose some hollow PR about how seriously it takes the matter and that will run alongside the actual stories of problems.

Here we get the raw unvarnished story of someone effected and people can make their own conclusions. There's no middle man trying to make a buck and the making a buck is why NYT it's 'maybe there's an NYT expose.' Lawyers, advertisers, and other more important news all are considerations at editorial board meetings. Lots of stories get spiked.

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

#339

Post by jordigh »

> how sometimes certain people of certain genders and ethnic backgrounds were better suited for some jobs than others

What the ever-loving fuck. They're talking about programming computers. HR at the company actually hinted that your ethnic background or gender can make you better at computers?

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

#340

Post by twblalock »

School-Cotton wrote: post #272
twblalock wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm referring to the cash salary only.

Stock is exactly the same as cash to me, since I always sell all of it on the day it vests. Why would you only compare cash salaries when evaluating compensation? That makes no sense.

It's different for private companies. You can't just sell the stock on the public market. Also, incentive stock options are subject to the AMT.
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