Block

I work for CashApp Engineering within Square, so I can only speak for CashApp (which has a separate office to Square's in Melbourne).

• Great remote-friendly culture, though there are some things everyone is still figuring out. At least I feel CashApp is better than a few other companies I've worked for in this aspect, by doing more async comms etc.
• Competent engineering leadership. We don't have non-engineering managers leading teams or being engineering directors/senior leads who are very empathetic to real engineering issues and don't come with arbitrary deadlines or unnecessary pressures.
• Real autonomy for engineers. I've heard about it in almost all my previous places, but I didn't really know how it feels to be autonomous until I started here. Teams are only assigned a problem space or very high level, and we solve it in the best way we want. There's no micromanagement or process overhead.
• Work-life balance friendly! I can't speak for SF or other CashApp offices here, but the Melbourne (or AU, generally speaking) is very much nailing this (or at least trying its best to). We don't have people staying late and working late, so there is no pressure on anyone else indirectly either.
• Good compensation / stocks.
• Working on very interesting stuff all the time due to the trajectory growth.

A fast-paced environment (good and bad, I guess, so change is the only constant: reorgs, people movements, industry opportunities, etc.). Perhaps a good problem to have?

Whilst it's remote-friendly, as I mentioned, there are a lot of things still being figured out. The communities/guilds are not very active and are kind of becoming just day-to-day work stuff. This would be a challenge for the org to re-energize such culture, given Square has announced 100% remote even post-COVID, and we already have hires from various parts of AU (a combination of growing pains and the 100% remote situation).

Not very diverse when it comes to senior management positions, although the most diverse team when it comes to junior to mid-level engineers. Good that there is acknowledgement of this issue, but still work to be done by supporting women, LGBTQ members, and persons with disabilities but who are fully able to work, etc.

Double down on making the org more remote-friendly. We recently hired across the globe, so we need to make it work within teams, with some support.

More work is required to enhance diversity and inclusion, and also to handle communication regarding this, on what is being done and what is not being done.