Zendesk

• Flexible hours and work environment • Attention paid to a healthy work-family-life balance • Nice snack options • Access to a wide variety of technologies • Back in the day, the 'chill factor' was great, but it's high tension now.

• Passive-aggressive leadership. • No commitment to seasoned employees. • No follow-up or accountability on negative performance reviews, if they are one of the 'cool kids' – particularly if the 'cool kid' is in management. • High turnover and some aloof, ineffective managers that leave their team in disarray. • High turnover has encouraged sloppy hiring of people who name-drop and speak only in industry buzzwords with little comprehension or deep technical ability; narcissists are superb at charisma and conning, working their way up the social ladder. • Younger, arrogant managers talking down to seasoned engineers and colleagues, causing friction and lack of trust between teams and employees. • Huge attrition rates and technical debt with the loss of great colleagues, now that we have gone public (IPO). • Non-comparable pay for Silicon Valley, despite experience level and ability; high pay goes to the 'cool kids' with the 'flashy outfits' and 'friends' in high places. • Candid but respectful voicing of concerns can either fall on deaf ears or receive secretive retribution towards the employee who brought up the issue; walking on eggshells has become a common theme behind the scenes. • Tribalism: certain groups receive all the goodies, attention, and perks, while others are ignored; cliques are easily formed, similar to high school or college. • Neighborhood environs are quite depressing and disturbing; they do not contribute to a positive start to the day, especially when I have had to witness shootings, stabbings, overdoses, public defecation, robbery, and physical assaults – including of myself and my colleagues – just walking to and from work. When colleagues have brought up physical assaults and abuse they have received in the neighborhood, "Community Outreach" and upper management have downplayed their concerns and told them, "Maybe they should be more considerate of people in need" and "take a walking tour to better get to know the neighborhood." They assume the worst of the person and negatively attack their character as a non-charitable person. Of course, these same people do not live in the neighborhood, some do not even live in the city, and are quick to dismiss employees' fears and valid safety concerns in the name of political correctness. Why do honest people need to be attacked?

My advice to management is:

• Do more to keep and attract great quality employees and avoid falling into frat-boy style hiring tactics. Don't be fooled by loquaciousness and flashy titles. Make sure the 'cool kid' actually has substance and expertise in what they claim to be an expert in.

• Consider offering raises and/or bonuses for long-time employees who've put in the work, passion, and loyalty to the company and their fellow team members.

• Don't allow resources to be gobbled up by some teams over others just because they're popular and powerful. It creates an unbalanced and unfair work environment when some teams don't have the funds to complete training or beneficial off-sites because no one thought of them.

• Improve office security so that no more equipment, like laptops, or personal effects, like purses or wallets, are stolen.