The facade is crumbling more and more and there's a tremendous rumbling inside
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Over the last few years, there have been multiple waves of layoffs, which are politically euphemized as realignments. At the same time, the company is pushing through a complete reorg of R&D, topped with an AI-first policy. The marathon turned into a rally and the rally turned into a fight for survival.
Image
On the surface, a top employer that takes great care to maintain its public image. In some aspects still outperforming others (free Klimaticket, beer, parties). Internally, there's now a hire-and-fire mentality with a constant upheaval and management's fear of the next investors call or being overtaken by competitors.
Work-Life-Balance
It's usually no problem to take a vacation or compensatory time off. The only downside is that people were forced to take on-call shifts even when they didn't want to (even though it's officially voluntary). Communication was so poor that people in my team didn't even know they were on-call.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
Promotions have practically come to a halt and now almost only occur during reorganizations, when someone moves into a new role. There are annual development plans for everyone, but these are ultimately irrelevant for the performance evaluation.
Gehalt/Benefits
Salary is decent. No room for negotiation, except during the hiring process. Annual raises can be below the inflation rate, even if performance was outstanding. The company retains employees with RSUs, which can make up an increasingly large portion of their salary.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Only to the extent that's relevant for share holders.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Team spirit among those in the same boat remains strong. Power dynamics have shifted nonetheless. It's every man/woman for himself. In the past, you could simply ask someone for small things via Slack. Now everything is much more process-driven; most requests to colleagues, even if small, have to undergo a formal Request for Assistance ticket so that every minute spent can be tracked for performance evaluation.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Those who are older and hold higher positions are all well-connected. Once you reach a certain level, performance alone won't get you any further.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
A disaster. A CEO who pretends to care about people, even though all he cares is the stock price. Zero authenticity. You can really tell the difference from a few years ago, when they were still looking for "talents" and promoting them. Now that the job market has changed, they just pretend to care about employees.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Travel has been severly restricted. Most of my team members are based at a different location, but I hardly ever see them, except online. Day trips are possible but a big logistical hassle - it's standard practice that you're not allowed to claim travel expenses for them.
Kommunikation
Only an elite circle is consulted before changes are rolled out at scale. Everything is now decided top-down and even managers don't find out what's in store for them until the very end, when it directly affects them. Communication used to be honest, or at least phrased more honestly, but now it's just clichéd American brainwashing with smiles and everyone lying to each other.
Interessante Aufgaben
Tasks are interesting and varied. The variety is so big that you often can't say which project you'll be working on in two weeks. Constant changes in direction. Little tangible output. The expectation to always deliver everything faster. Fast is never fast enough.