American Express

• Nice view outside: Hudson River, Statue of Liberty, New Jersey, Upper Manhattan, Lower Manhattan & One World Trade Center.
• Humble Manager: My manager works hard and over time. Sometimes provides feedback with the double-layer sandwich method. Supportive, helped develop my confidence and leadership style by guiding through the process and by allowing/pushing me to make my own decisions.
• Team Leads: Inspiring, humble, supportive, encouraging. Celebrated differences.
• Co-workers: Funny, supportive, helpful, inspiring, and creative.
• I gained more confidence and became a better individual, both as a person and as a programmer.

• No guides for new hires: So much confusion, disorientation, and brusque orders without any great explanation.
• Bureaucracy at its best: Vague and empty official feedbacks and criticism on performance from completely different department’s managers and teams.
• No Transparency: Possibility of getting fired (happened) when talking with someone above your manager, like a team director, even if they add their own and collect all the comments and feedbacks about one’s performance from different unrelated and unconnected departments.
• Judgments through Assumptions: Negative feedbacks on my performance by other department’s managers across the floor by their great observation skills.
• Miscommunication and Misunderstanding: Between team members and across other teams, managers, and team director. And no efforts for further clarification and for better understanding before making decisions.
• Strange Work Environment:
  • Other department team’s members meet pleasantly when in need or for a request, but put extra efforts ignoring you other times, including the main team director who hired you.
  • Depression across the floor, and I was told during the interview that people don’t stay there very long. I wonder why!
  • Insecurity and flirtation issues across the opposite genders with racial issues due to different backgrounds, and therefore resentment through mistreatment.
  • Very rigid and toxic environment. It doesn’t matter how great you do your part, you are still expected to stay stationary on your confined chair. You’re judged upon your body movements across the floor and the other employees whom you communicate to.
• Micromanagement: You’d be completely assured to rely on your great expertise, but you’re still expected and forced to comply.
• Bad Management:
  • More of an aggressive communication style between managers towards their and other team’s members. Lack of sincere acknowledgment and appreciation for the time and efforts put in.
  • Easily replaceable for any task or work, and/or get fired without any real and detailed explanation.
• Less Benefits and Perks and More Restrictions: Seldom food and occasional snacks, discounted gym membership, little pantry area, internet connectivity problems, and often servers down, limited access to online official documentation. And of course, no access to AMEX's doctor if you work as a contractor, even if feeling pain due to a bug poked in your eye.

I don't think you'd read this from a personal experience with my managers. And I can assume how and where it is being tolerated. But know this: the organism that doesn't adapt dies off eventually (like me in this case from this job), but the whole company will in the future because the new generation won't tolerate this type of work culture.