Netflix

• Top of market base salary
• 401(k) plan is free
• Do not penny-pinch on equipment; get whatever you want.

Freedom and responsibility is their mantra when you're hired, but it is not practiced by new managers.

People get fired all the time for disagreeing or questioning management on anything.

On some teams (mine, not all) there was no collaboration in design between managers and programmers. The managers designed it, and the only freedom the programmers had was to develop it exactly in that manner. If you disagreed with the design, you guessed it: you're fired.

Even star performers routinely get the axe. Others remaining are understandably nervous about their jobs.

The so-called stock plan makes no sense at all. It's the only plan I've ever heard of where an employee has to risk their own money to participate.

Benefits are awful if you have a family. It cost me $800/month to have medical and dental for a family of 4. If you're single, you're completely covered.

No vacation paid when you leave. This is also a plus in a way, though. Netflix does not track vacation time at all. If you take too much, though, you will get fired without warning.

Take off that PowerPoint presentation from jobs.netflix.com about the Netflix culture. It no longer applies. Netflix has turned into the mature company that was envisioned in the slide deck. Star performers no longer want to work there.