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Culture of Nepotism, Alcoholics, and Cliques

Software Engineer
Former Employee
Worked at Block for 4 years
February 9, 2022
San Francisco, California
1.0
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

I met some great coworkers here.

Cons

Compared to their peers, Block pays below average. Their refreshers are roughly around 5-15% instead of the standard 25% of your initial offer.

I know people who got a $6k/yr grant as a refresher versus the expected $20k+/yr grant as a refresher (for their respective level).

Block's culture is rampant with alcoholism and cliques. When we were still in the office, they had a weekly meeting on the rooftop where all the "old guard" (actually what they called themselves) would grab a beer and drink. They were all white males and not very inclusive of others.

Managers were also especially bad about this; they would regularly skip meetings with people to go out to the Market for a beer run and drink with one another during company hours.

Register and Cash are fighting with one another internally. Cash keeps cannibalizing the rest of Block by literally poaching other Block employees (sometimes to the point of starting the poaching right after someone joins Block).

The company also has a history of rewarding nepotism. People who have tenure or have special connections continue to be rewarded despite not delivering results.

Managers are able to make up metrics and lie about their directs. They also do not undergo training, and several managers contribute to an abusive culture.

HR isn't there to help you; they will only cover for the manager.

Advice to Management

End nepotism. Stop promoting engineers to EMs. Force EMs to have actual training.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
1.0
Culture and Values
1.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
1.0
Career Opportunities
1.0
Compensation and Benefits
1.0
Senior Management
1.0

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