Taro Logo

Political Culture, Good Teams

Software Engineer
Former Employee
Worked at The New York Times for 1 year
April 23, 2017
New York, New York
2.0
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

There are honestly some very warm, competent teams at the Times which care about their craft and teammates.

The Web Development group is a great group of people who care about what they do and are able to help others learn as well.

Nobody ever gets fired.

The Women In Tech organization strives to create a group that allows you to always find a place to feel included (note that this does not mean a culture of inclusivity, just the presence of a separate group). You'll generally be able to find some group to accept you provided you don't come from a lower socio-economic bracket.

Cons

The culture is extremely political, with people generally trying to take everyone down to rep their own brand.

Management will not care about your concerns because no one wants to deal with drama. They'll instead focus on more straightforward initiatives that lead to quick successes so they can improve their visibility.

The technology organization plans many greenfield initiatives that go nowhere, mostly because of a lack of cohesive cross-team collaboration and a very political culture that results in no forward movement.

Professional growth is hard to find, considering turnover is so high and underachievers end up being promoted to leadership positions. When you find someone to grow and learn from, stick to them like glue.

Advice to Management

Improve the culture at the Times. Identify toxic and highly political people and remove them from the organization.

Work on improving actual diversity at the Times rather than just women or ensuring you have the right ratios of people with different skin tones.

Disagree and commit on initiatives. Blocking on everything you don't understand pushes back deadlines and results in hastily-made, last-minute deliverables that don't meet the standards or promote longevity.

Was this helpful?

The New York Times Interview Experiences