Tripadvisor

Employees are smart. Engineers care about work and quality.

Been with Tripadvisor since it was at Needham. It was a very positive experience the first couple of years, but since then, things have been deteriorating. It could be because of the stock falling from high above $100 down to $30 at some point. Tripadvisor has become more tense and cautious. The motto the last few years has been 'cutting overhead.' That so-called 'overhead' leads to the following effects:

• Team downsized to half (many left, but not many new hires), but double the workload.
• Snacks got cut down (even got rid of paper cups on all of the upper floors).
• A handful of reorganizations.

When I started working at my current position, I realized the culture at Tripadvisor has not been better either.

For one, Tripadvisor doesn't invest much in employees. There wasn't much training. For example, unless it's directly applied to the individual's existing work, requests for attending conferences will most likely be turned down. Over the last 6 years, I haven't attended one single conference.

Transparency at Trip hasn't been at its best compared to other companies. For instance, employees have submitted questions but never get answers. At town halls, there are generally only a few minutes for addressing a few questions.

But one thing that has gone the wrong way above all is the management. I've literally witnessed the company letting good employees go instead of working to keep them. If management wants you to go, they will make things difficult for you so you can quit yourself. If management thinks a team does not add value to their own agenda, they let the team slowly die on its own instead.

There is good management, so it depends on which you joined, but CoreX eng management is not one.

Employees should be your top asset, not your puzzle piece.

Give team credits. There are value contributors besides star players. Be more transparent and respect the team.