‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#371

Post by i-write-comment » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:43 AM UTC

2-tpg wrote: post #136

sfkdjf9j3j wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the article says in the second paragraph, the employees that they spoke to left in 2018 and 2019, so this response is irrelevant. I personally find it reprehensible and deliberately lacking context as well but you are entitled to your opinion.

The blog post about leaving politics at the door was in response to the death of Floyd and some employees upset about their perceived "silence" of upper management, where more woke companies did speak up. So it's relevant and provides context to that policy of focusing on company mission, instead of making statements about racial inequality, police brutality, and unfair societies. You are entitled to political though…

It's very odd how people who openly express deeply-racist sentiments (as your previous comment repeating lies about George Floyd does) get so offended when accused of being racist.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#372

Post by mike_d » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:44 AM UTC

nilkn wrote: post #338

[Thank you for all your advice -- it's greatly appreciated. I've edited this post since it included a few personal details that I don't want permanently attached to my account on here. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]

Opportunities will open up in the new year when people start getting budget and headcount. Don't feel like you don't have options.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#373

Post by exogeny » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:45 AM UTC

nilkn wrote: post #338

[Thank you for all your advice -- it's greatly appreciated. I've edited this post since it included a few personal details that I don't want permanently attached to my account on here. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]

If you want my instant feedback, while I understand that you're not getting the quantity of interviews you'd like, I'd caution you against thinking of Coinbase as a "hot" company. That designation would have been true years ago, when the work/reward balance would have been much more in your favor. Instead, right now you're going to work startup hours for less salary than FAANG and a truly miniscule and non-commensurate amount of (likely underwater, as of now) options.

The company is heavily capitalized and clearly mismanaged.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#374

Post by chance_state » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:46 AM UTC

__float wrote: post #339

disown wrote: post #302

> at least 11 of them informed the human resources department or their managers about what they said was racist or discriminatory treatment ... One Black employee said her manager suggested in front of colleagues that she was dealing drugs and carrying a gun, trading on racist stereotypes. In an era of smartphones and viral videos, the fact that we don't have a single audio/video recording exposing the racism seems r…

> In an era of smartphones and viral videos, the fact that we don't have a single audio/video recording exposing the racism seems rather suspect. I'm not saying that is proof of anything. But something to consider. Do you regularly record interactions with your coworkers, on the chance they may say something incriminating? I don't, and I expect most would not try to record things at work unless they go into a meeting…

> Do you regularly record interactions with your coworkers, on the chance they may say something incriminating?

If I'm so upset at work that I'm about to publicly call someone a racist? Yeah, I usually gather some evidence rather than just smear them.

Just throwing accusations works in 2020, however.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#375

Post by mplanchard » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:49 AM UTC

nilkn wrote: post #338

[Thank you for all your advice -- it's greatly appreciated. I've edited this post since it included a few personal details that I don't want permanently attached to my account on here. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]

Even in the absence of anything else, the fact that over half of their black employees complained to HR of racism and 3/4 quit[0] seems to be a strong signal that there is a problem.

Whether you go on with the job or not should be based entirely on how you personally feel about the situation. Maybe this bothers you but you’d like the opportunity to make a difference and try to shift the culture. Maybe you’re so bothered by it that you don’t want to work for them at all. Maybe it bothers you, but not enough to change your course. Maybe something else.

I think the one important thing to do is that, if you do pull out of the process, let them know why. Hiring people costs a lot of money, and perhaps seeing that there are actual consequences for letting their corporate culture be what it seems to be might help to drive home the message that this stuff matters enough to affect their bottom line, and that they should therefore take it seriously.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25230716

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#376

Post by camdenlock » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:51 AM UTC

ausbah wrote: post #260

frankly its a little surprising to me how quickly some people in this comment section are to instantly dismiss the experiences of the people in this article yes the truth is shades of gray that article doesn't really give any answers to, but the unwillingness of others in these comments to even consider the possibility of some racism, discrimination, etc. experienced by others is just disheartening

The fault here lies with our society granting far too much power to people claiming victimhood. Being a victim is now an actively sought-after position because of the rewards it yields. We’ve completely perverted the incentives.

So now, in order to protect ourselves against bad faith actors, we have to be extremely skeptical of victimhood claims. I agree, it is sad.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#377

Post by leppr » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:52 AM UTC

throwmylifawy wrote: post #214

Reading through the comments as black person is depressing. Many of the comments question whether the accusations are even true or collusive attack because of an unfounded accusation that black people tend to be SJWs (stereotyping). Others blame affirmative-action, bad schools, etc. (classic misdirection). Some even venture into the possibility that a black person complaining about being passed over for promotion mig…

I find it difficult to conceive how one could work at/manage a mainstream cryptocurrency company and be racist.

Both empirically (it's the most multicultural tech scene I ever witnessed), and in principles (one of the core tenets of crypto is precisely eliminating discrimination), crypto would be among the most counter productive fields for a racist to spend their time on.

Of course I'm not discounting the fact that humans are often irrational and incoherent, so it seems fair to give the benefit of the doubt to both parties until we have more information.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#378

Post by adjkant » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:52 AM UTC

nilkn wrote: post #338

[Thank you for all your advice -- it's greatly appreciated. I've edited this post since it included a few personal details that I don't want permanently attached to my account on here. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]

Full disclosure, I'm personally a bit more motivated than most about what the company that I work for stands for, but to me, you made the answer clear with this:

> I do already have a (very) good job, so I don't "have" to have this and can afford to just drop it.

I understand the getting an interview struggle, but you have time and comfort here to wait and find a better option. My one counterpoint in my head (change from the inside) is ruled out if Coinbase isn't receptive to the change at a leadership level, which seems to be the case here. I think you do the most good here by explicitly dropping out and telling them this is the reason why. Maybe if they won't listen to their own employees, they will listen to the labor market.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#379

Post by exogeny » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:54 AM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #343

sangnoir wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whose privacy? Coinbase's?! They wouldn't be the first company to publicly publish an internal report (voluntary or not; such documents routinely go public via the justice system).

The employee's. If someone makes a complaint to HR it might easily be illegal to investigate then broadcast it to the world accompanied with a "this employee is full of it" style message. Doing that might, for example, damage that employees prospects of finding employment or reveal specific personal details. Certainly appalling form, probably illegal.

This stance is so ridiculous on it's face that I'm more likely to believe that you're Brian Armstrong than someone else.

Re: ‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

#380

Post by bobthepanda » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:55 AM UTC

HarryHirsch wrote: post #149

skywhopper wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if the issue is with that individual employee. In this case, that obviously isn’t the case. Ignoring a systemic problem in your company solves nothing.

Don't know if that's true. The big goal is to avoid federal lawsuits and other scandals. If the can can be kicked down the road for a few more years, fine! Uber only blew up because Susan Fowler was better connected than most, and you'd like to know how much the scandal affected the company. Uber is fine, Kalanick is fine, a few HR drones lost their jobs, business as usual.

Highly paid people are a pain to hire for and replace.

If all of a sudden your turnover spikes that's a lot of sudden unexpected cost, which is very bad.