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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

#451

Post by ryanbrunner »

tyingq wrote: post #390
bifocald wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Culture is CEO's responsibility. Period.

The story got picked up by the Verge, and there's a response from Uber's CEO... http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/19/14664474/uber-sexism-alleg...

The fact that the story got the traction it did means that the response couldn't have possibly been anything other than what it was (disgust and a promise to look into it). Even if the CEO was directly responsible for this culture the response would be the same. I don't think it's possible to extract anything meaningful from it whatsoever at this point.

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

#452

Post by sib »

jacques_chester wrote: post #386
blhack wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)…

Alcohol increases confidence in one's abilities. Everyone has some skill they insist they are "better at" when drunk.

Without a doubt, I am better at dancing (ok, less awful), if I have a drink or two ;)

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

#455

Post by Alex3917 »

tptacek wrote: post #188
unityByFreedom wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? It's literally your right to vote to join a union. If a majority of coworkers vote for one, you've got a union. Look up the National Labor Relations Act.

Not only is this true, but the NLRA also bars employer retaliation against concerted actions by employees both to organize and also to take actions in protest of work conditions. It's a huge exception to at-will employment. I had no idea about any of this stuff until I started talking to the Tech Solidarity people. I'd always thought the reason nobody goes on strike is that you'd simply be fired for doing so. But, no…

> the NLRA also bars employer retaliation against concerted actions by employees both to organize and also to take actions in protest of work conditions.

I also learned about this from the Tech Solidarity people. The key here though is that actions are only protected if they're taken collectively by multiple employees. A single employee protesting can still be fired without recourse.

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

#456

Post by lacampbell »

kevinburke wrote: post #392
sn9 wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about the attrition rate of female engineers, I wonder if there's a similar rate of male engineers who leave due to how badly their female colleagues are treated in addition to the other factors listed in this thread and Fowler's piece. If so, that would imply that the engineering culture is being distilled into an evermore toxic workplace, since those who stay are those who make the place toxic or are simpl…

I really doubt this. A lot of men are totally unaware of how women are treated, which fellow men on their team are harassers, or don't believe women when they report harassment. My evidence for this is every man in tech reacting with shock to this story, and every woman I know saying "yep, I have a story like this," or "I know many women with stories like this"

> My evidence for this is every man in tech reacting with shock to this story

You've interviewed us all, have you?

I don't find the accusations surprising or outside the realm of possibility at all.

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

#458

Post by matt4077 »

chii wrote: post #342
revelation wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't sue, there is likely a mandatory arbitration clause in the employment contract (because why not, it's free) and it applies to everything .

arbitration clause should only apply in civil suits, iirc. I would hate to think that sexual harassment is a civil case, rather than criminal.

Sexual harassment is a civil case. Criminal law only gets involved if it's assault.

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

#459

Post by grzm »

lacampbell wrote: post #456
kevinburke wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really doubt this. A lot of men are totally unaware of how women are treated, which fellow men on their team are harassers, or don't believe women when they report harassment. My evidence for this is every man in tech reacting with shock to this story, and every woman I know saying "yep, I have a story like this," or "I know many women with stories like this"

> My evidence for this is every man in tech reacting with shock to this story You've interviewed us all, have you? I don't find the accusations surprising or outside the realm of possibility at all.

An alternative (and I believe intended) reading of this line is

My evidence for this is every man in tech who is reacting with shock to this story

rather than

My evidence for this is that every man in tech is reacting with shock to this story

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

#460

Post by SwellJoe »

cjhanks wrote: post #379

'I pointed out that I was publishing a book with O'Reilly, speaking at major tech conferences, and doing all of the things that you're supposed to do to have an "upward career trajectory", but they said it didn't matter and I needed to prove myself as an engineer.' Maybe that's why she didn't get a promotion. Personally, I have had colleagues attempt similar things. When they embark on these external endeavors they h…

That's a bizarre and backward way to look at it. In a growth company, employees provide value in a lot of indirect, but important, ways. Having employees speak at conferences is a very common recruiting tactic; often, good people are at conferences, and when they hear about a great company to work for with smart people who give good talks, they want to work there, too. Books are similar. Reading Site Reliability Engineering makes me want to work at Google (even though I know I really don't want to work at Google).

Good people bring in more good people, and good people are enthusiastic and do cool things outside of work. The author is probably someone I'd want to work with, based on her enthusiasm for her job and her obviously effective time management (I wrote a technical book once, and it took a year longer than I'd planned). The people who convinced someone like her to leave a place are people I definitely wouldn't want to work with.

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