SAP

Releases every 3 months.

Friendly coworkers, fruit tray every morning, regular socials, outside speakers, beer bashes.

Ever since SAP bought the place, 70% of the employees have left. Some of the remaining were quickly promoted to senior management. Vast majority of them have minimum social skills.

Just think, there are enough VPs and directors with whom I cannot have a conversation about the weather! Most of them have 0 to 4 direct reports. There are enough directors with no direct reports. I know of one director who works 11 AM to 3 PM, and then sets up 1-1s and other meetings after 9 PM, because their baby sleeps by 9 PM!

As a result, the remaining workers are piled on a huge amount of work, more than a typical startup. The support people are useless, hence development and QA have to find the issues. The pay scales are typically 20% and less than market rates. No options. You will constantly be reminded that you are getting paid too much.

Typically, some junior developer in China will decide the sprint schedule, and once the dates are given, there is no changing. If QA finds one bug, you will be warned about termination.

The teams in China and India work 9 AM to 5 PM. So they schedule meetings most evenings and Sunday evenings. If you object or miss one, you will be terminated. It's pretty common for a manager to insult and berate their employees in front of everyone. If you defend yourself, you will be terminated.

Don't expect much support from HR. They will tell you that you are a slave and have to work anytime the manager wants. No downtime on evenings, weekends, or vacations. They will typically offer some money if you agree to leave quietly. After you sign the exit paperwork, understand that they will tell you that you violated some clause and that the money is being withheld. This is typical.

As you can imagine, skilled people come and go. During the last SAP survey, 60% said they did not trust their boss! This is the lowest in SAP.