Elastic

Great compensation, remote-first, compelling product offering, and lots of smart and great people. Twise-monthly Fridays off help compensate for the intensity.

For a while, Elastic was the most engaging, rewarding, and exciting place I've ever worked. It was always an intense job, but also incredibly motivating.

Sadly, in the last year, it has changed significantly. Reorgs have resulted in responsibilities falling through the cracks, which has hurt developer efficiency. Chronic underinvestment in critical areas means recent big initiatives are pushing already stretched teams to unsustainable levels. Teams feel increasingly task-oriented with no time for socialization because the workload is so high, and tensions are rising as everyone's stress level increases.

Don't set aggressive deadlines for massive projects before requirements or designs are even close to fleshed out. Recognize that many teams have ongoing responsibilities and technical debt roadmaps that can't take a backseat to the latest high-priority project. Ensure the entire business is aligned on the difficult tradeoffs that will be necessary to make such projects successful. I fear burnout and attrition are coming, and the consequences could be serious if we don't slow down and prioritize sustainability.