Spotify

Looks good on the CV and people get excited when they hear you work there.

You'll get to work with some smart people.

You'll have the chance to take some internal training offers.

You'll have the chance to attend a few internal conferences and one external conference per year.

There is free food at the office.

There are social events happening from time to time.

A stressful environment with bad work-life balance, despite leaders claiming they value it.

Many teams keep running understaffed.

Quite hierarchical in practice, despite leaders claiming they value people's opinions. Most feel like a pawn and not a player.

Many ambitious people work more for themselves than for the company.

There is no real sense of community; teams and departments work in isolation, hiding behind the excuse that they are autonomous.

A lot of reinvented wheels, leading to long onboarding times.

The company has grown too fast, and it seems its original values got lost with it. The sincerity and genuineness do not feel present, and working there many times feels like a game.

For instance, the feedback culture that you so proudly state to have feels more like a feedback currency, with people chasing positive feedback from friends for promotion packages. Giving "constructive" feedback to others is also highly praised, and it feels it's used much more for the benefit of the person giving than the person receiving. There is too much emphasis on the "models" for doing things, e.g., how to give feedback, and not really on the desired outcome.

Stop the buzzwords party and relearn their essence.