Zoom

It was a native C++ client.

The bar is low for being a domain expert. Knowledge that the average Silicon Valley engineer should have is somehow in short supply there, so it's easier to stand out.

The pay was OK while it lasted.

Repeated rounds of layoffs, with departed colleagues' work being heaped on those remaining, left everyone miserable and stressed and just waiting for when our turn is next.

My boss actually announced development was shifting to "startup mode". When I asked if that means more upside or flexibility or equity or any of the other reasons you may choose a startup over a large established company, the answer was, "no, just more work" (!?!)

There is a serious culture and power divide between overseas and California-based development teams.

There was zero career growth investment in employees, with no training or conferences except those offered by Zoom.

The company fired the entire DEI team.

The CEO attended Melania's movie premiere.

It seems many large companies saw Elon gut Twitter headcount without the sky falling immediately, and started copying him with repeated rounds of layoffs to make the numbers look good, but X has a moat and will always have some core user base no matter what. Zoom does not have this! How can you destroy development teams and discard so much institutional knowledge and expect everything to stay OK?

Zoom has never known what to do after the pandemic boost. Five years ago it was massive hiring, "we're going to be a platform", then at some point it switched to repeated layoffs and "AI everything", seemingly just because everyone else is doing that and nobody has any better ideas.