Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee
Pros: Best place if you just want to work with great, technically capable folks.
15-20% higher pay, but if you actually consider everything, it might not be that big of a deal. Check what will be in-hand salary after taxes because taxes also go high with salary.
Somewhat transparent workplace, but at times higher management takes ridiculous decisions like Quickster. What the hell?
Reed gets things right most of the time (except Quickster) and understands what he is doing.
Cons: Worst place where all technically capable folks are also so heavy on political games within the team. Also, it depends on which team you are part of. My general observation is, the larger the team, the greater the politics being played within.
It is literally true that there is a culture of fear, no matter how talented you are. I have seen people being walked out; they were far more talented than other mediocre engineers surviving there for 3-4 years just because they lick the managers' asses, and I have seen managers loving it being licked.
Few managers who came from Google or some other similar companies think that they know everything in the world and act as if they rule the world, but actually, they are literally dumb asses when it comes to real work.
They claim it is all rockstar engineers and fire those who are not, but I have seen people surviving for ages, not even knowing what they did for all these years at Netflix, and they are pure mediocre engineers.
My advice to engineers would be: if you are happy with the work you are doing right now or with other offers in hand, don't fall for the salary trap; it is merely an illusion.