Netflix loves talking about freedom, responssibility, radical candor (ouch)... Oh, talent density. This sure as he-l sounds awesome on paper. But... employee reviews keep telling a different story. Backstabbing, politics, nepotism/cronysm/favoritism, never-stopping reorgs, and just about 0 job security. Being liked by the right manager can matter more than doing your job well - being brilliang, delivering and contributing more than anyone else.... A high-performance culture, now do a podcast and write a book about it. If i was to define it i'd say it's 100% corporate political gamesmanship dressed up as excellence.
But I like the $$$. That's the trap - golden handcufs.... $$$ salaries, PTO, great bennies. But also the long hours, burnout, and non-stop anxiety about being the next person out - it catches up with you, sooner or latter.... Then diveristy between teams - Some are great, others are miserable, plain horrible in every sense. Your experience depends 100pct on who you report to - it's similar at other cos but here its more pronounced... i call it a lottery, some get good mgrs, some dont. Some mgrs are plain nuts, but i'll cover that in another post... those golden handcuffs get pretty uncomfortable when you realize what you're putting up with and how much abuse u have to tolerate to take home whatever they give u.
This brings me to the 1K cut that's in focus right now... with MOST (not many, not some) people questioning why experienced, highperforming employees are among those leaving. Here's my Q. Who holds mgmt accountable? When priorities constantly change, teams get reorged, and good people leave, why is it always the employees who pay the price? Does the famous keeper test apply to leadership too???? Or do execs and mgrs get to keep their jobs while everyone else keeps proving they deserve theirs????
The irony is that Netflix still has a large pool of exceptionally talented people. this makes this whole thing even more stupid. You can't keep burning through talent and expect high salaries & free lunches, and a culture memo to make everything OK. The execs and mgmt should stop preaching accountability and start practicing it. Like right now.... Because right now that famous/cherished Netflix culture is starting to look like a well planned marketing campaign for a pretty ordinary corp machine.
Peace out