Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Netflix: Culture of Fear

glassdoor.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 107 posts

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#91

Post by johnyzee »

cookiecaper wrote: post #89
elq wrote: post #84

I've worked at netflix for about three years. I'm a software engineer and work on personalization. In the time I've been there, not one of the 40 or so people that I know well or work with have been fired. One person I was acquainted with was fired - no one found it surprising. Note that IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago. Two really good people got dropped. I know more people that have quit - 3, but 1 ha…

Thanks for this perspective, I appreciate it. However, you noted that the IT department (assuming IT and engineering are separate at Netflix) was overboard with firing. If the manager on Glassdoor worked there, do you think his review is more justified? Netflix's pronounced strategy is great if you have judicious and fair managers all the way up the ranks in your department, but it seems that it only takes one bad ma…

I think his "IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago" comment referred to the industry, not Netflix in particular.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#92

Post by alexro »

jrockway wrote: post #68
Periodic wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realized this is how it is at my current employer too. They have very strict processes around this to manage seniority. For example, I am currently at a lower title (level 2) than another developer on my team (level 3) who I spend at least half an hour a day managing and coaching. We have to be very diligent with code reviews for this person because there is a lot of stuff they miss. I feel like they would be a goo…

I think every company is like this, which is what's depressing. Solid and reliable software is not in demand, and where it is, it's assumed that process (not creativity) is what gets it. It's OK, though, because I can write solid software faster than other people can write shitty software :)

I think the companies in general are better than in your one-sided opinion.

For instance, think about hundreds of companies that need to manage financial data. They create solutions to take data from database A and put it into database B. People who maintain this code are usually 100% more critical to the company than an average "awesome programmer". And these people get promoted based on the years of service.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#93

Post by gbk »

Is it just me or is this single job review most likely about the low level CD packing and mailing jobs (that are not covered by machines)? This does not specifically say these are tech jobs within Netflix that have this Culture of Fear. As Netflix eventually moves to streaming-only these jobs will disappear anyway.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#94

Post by mwsfc »

astrofinch wrote: post #82
mwsfc wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's also a potentially cheap way to solve a vexing problem when you have a limited resource pool (ie your employees).

So maybe the upper management can innovate and the employees can't?

Not at all. Think of it this way, you're a small company with a limited budget. You have a very difficult problem and your existing engineers haven't been able to figure it out. Hiring another engineer could help but it's no guarantee and you can't keep hiring indefinitely until it's solved. Why not have a contest with a known payout (ie the prize). That way you're not paying for all the work that is a non-winning idea. You get the solution, for a fixed amount and are able to spread the time and effort across a vastly greater resource pool without having to pay for it.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#95

Post by cafard »

elq wrote: post #84

I've worked at netflix for about three years. I'm a software engineer and work on personalization. In the time I've been there, not one of the 40 or so people that I know well or work with have been fired. One person I was acquainted with was fired - no one found it surprising. Note that IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago. Two really good people got dropped. I know more people that have quit - 3, but 1 ha…

$30 per paycheck: how often are you paid?

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#96

Post by illumin8 »

elq wrote: post #84

I've worked at netflix for about three years. I'm a software engineer and work on personalization. In the time I've been there, not one of the 40 or so people that I know well or work with have been fired. One person I was acquainted with was fired - no one found it surprising. Note that IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago. Two really good people got dropped. I know more people that have quit - 3, but 1 ha…

Thanks for the perspective. I got the impression that the employee writing the review was actually a poor performer that was disgruntled. I saw the slides on Netflix culture a couple years ago and was personally inspired by them. I've spent too many years working in corporate America, where poor performers are rarely if ever managed out of the workforce. Instead, they are put on PIPs (personal improvement plans) and everything possible is done to prevent the dreaded "lawyering up" and lawsuit for wrongful termination.

Corporate America has become so risk-adverse that they would rather keep poor performers around indefinitely, drawing a paycheck, than risk a single wrongful termination lawsuit. Also, those poor performers are masterful at avoiding work. For example, they keep printouts of every email "just in case," and play games like "you didn't ask me to do that in writing, so that's why I didn't do it."

If the glassdoor review in the article was really correct, don't you think Netflix would have been sued into oblivion already? That's why I don't think the reviewer is being honest about the reasons why he was terminated.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#97

Post by illumin8 »

jrockway wrote: post #68
Periodic wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realized this is how it is at my current employer too. They have very strict processes around this to manage seniority. For example, I am currently at a lower title (level 2) than another developer on my team (level 3) who I spend at least half an hour a day managing and coaching. We have to be very diligent with code reviews for this person because there is a lot of stuff they miss. I feel like they would be a goo…

I think every company is like this, which is what's depressing. Solid and reliable software is not in demand, and where it is, it's assumed that process (not creativity) is what gets it. It's OK, though, because I can write solid software faster than other people can write shitty software :)

This. Although I've found in my career that at companies like that, once you reach your mid 30s and are married, or have a family, for some reason they feel you are more stable and reliable and are more likely to promote you to some position like team lead or architect.

It really sucks, but for some reason, the most talented developers who are usually in their early 20s are seen as "less reliable" and more likely to jump ship taking a lot of product specific knowledge with them, so they are usually not trusted with positions of seniority.

Then, by the time we're in our 30s and have more important obligations like family, etc, we are promoted to positions where our 22 year old self would be more suited to the work load. Hopefully in the 15 years between these two phases we have gained some wisdom.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#98

Post by sabat »

brown9-2 wrote: post #58
sabat wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They place employee performance above all else and strive to create a place where high performers want to work If that was actually true, then they wouldn't fire people automatically based on two mistakes -- because high performers make mistakes. And then they learn a lot from those mistakes and become even higher performers. Apparently not at Netflix, however.

Be careful you aren't automatically accepting the version of events from someone on the ugly end of the firing without having both sides of the story. What one aggrieved person considers "just two mistakes" might seem to his or her team like a pattern of clueless-ness and incompetence.

Hence the word "apparently."

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#99

Post by lkrubner »

johnyzee wrote: post #91
cookiecaper wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this perspective, I appreciate it. However, you noted that the IT department (assuming IT and engineering are separate at Netflix) was overboard with firing. If the manager on Glassdoor worked there, do you think his review is more justified? Netflix's pronounced strategy is great if you have judicious and fair managers all the way up the ranks in your department, but it seems that it only takes one bad ma…

I think his "IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago" comment referred to the industry, not Netflix in particular.

Consider the next sentence:

"Note that IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago. Two really good people got dropped."

The 2 people who got dropped were clearly from Netflix.

Re: Netflix: Culture of Fear

#100

Post by elq »

cafard wrote: post #95
elq wrote: post #84

I've worked at netflix for about three years. I'm a software engineer and work on personalization. In the time I've been there, not one of the 40 or so people that I know well or work with have been fired. One person I was acquainted with was fired - no one found it surprising. Note that IT was a hellhole with firing about a year ago. Two really good people got dropped. I know more people that have quit - 3, but 1 ha…

$30 per paycheck: how often are you paid?

every two weeks
Post reply on HN