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Happy, but be cautious, all the time

Software Engineering Manager
Current Employee
Has worked at eBay for less than 1 year
October 3, 2008
Shanghai, Shanghai
4.0
RecommendsNo CEO Opinion
Pros

Good work-life balance and relaxed work atmosphere. I never work overtime. I have talented colleagues. My boss is nice, and we worked together pretty well. I tried interviewing other opportunities and found they did not pay as much as eBay, at least in China. I have chances to work with U.S. colleagues and sometimes went there for training and meetings. My English got much better because I have to talk with other parts of the world in English all the time, which is a great thing and will be a good asset for my future career.

Cons

It's now too big to avoid bureaucracy. One small issue will have to be waited for a long time to get fixed. An email thread grows very fast when people are saying nothing but CCing extra ones to the thread, and finally, no one has the answer.

When things go wrong, managers often first say it is because of understaffing so they can get more headcount, which will help themselves to grow along the ladder but makes the company even bigger and slower. Why is there a layoff now? Because we have too many people now. It's very true.

Advice to Management

Like many, or most, other US companies, Sr. Mgmt. has been given too much, and golden parachutes, so I doubt they really care about the company and its normal employees.

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