2nd layoff wave within ~10 months (employee perspective). Probation trap. Pricing Black Box. Churn & Burn
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
There are some genuinely talented and kind people in all teams especially among the junior/mid-level staff. The solidarity among the "regular" employees is strong, largely because everyone bonds over the shared experience of working here.
Free beverages in the fridges.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
"Churn and Burn": Two layoff waves within ~10 months. November 2024 was publicly framed as "AI-driven transformation"; internally, it felt like cost-cutting. September 2025 was the main cut. Following internal communication, it appeared that a low double-digit share of staff was affected.
Would Tourlane data pass an external review? A "Pricing Black Box" that no one I spoke to could explain in code. I was personally concerned that the way personal data was handled would not withstand scrutiny by an external regulator or independent audit. In my daily work, I encountered inconsistent access controls, unclear data ownership, and no transparent accountability — which raised serious concerns for me about data governance.
Probation Exploitation: In my own case, there were no prior warnings, no negative feedback, and no indication of financial difficulties — until my contract was terminated shortly before probation concluded. I am also aware of similar cases among colleagues where the timing felt strikingly close to the deadline. To me and others, this did not feel like coincidence.
Performative "AI Strategy" (Warning to Ops/Sales). Management suffer from the delusion that they are a tech giant like Klarna. In my experience, the “AI transformation” narrative felt largely performative. To me personally, the new AI tools felt like generic off-the-shelf solutions used as a shortcut, rather than a specialized transformation. It also gave me the impression that automation was increasingly prioritized over retaining and developing human specialists (especially in Ops)
Tech Nightmare: 8 years of tech debt; Looker views with 15+ joins; and avoidable incidents like SELECT * on 60GB prod tables.
HR & Legal Chaos: Contract irregularities, delayed Arbeitszeugnis issued only after I mentioned legal steps.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Establish a functional chain of command where managers have actual authority.
Stop using the 6-month probation period as a risk-free extraction window.
Invest in documentation and technical debt reduction before the next compliance audit.
If you announce a hiring freeze during terminations, don't post 6 vacancies two weeks later. People notice.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Toxic "Game of Thrones" Culture. Upper management (Marketing vs. IT vs. Operations vs. Finance) often operates in conflict rather than collaboration. Instead of collaboration, there is politicking. Stakeholders ignore roadmaps and bypass the chain of command, creating chaos. Middle managers have zero authority to enforce priorities or protect their teams from scope creep.
Kommunikation
Management knew about layoffs in advance but maintained the facade — we participated in a company Hackathon while firing lists were being finalized. People were silently removed from calendar meetings 3 days before the announcement. IT access was cut 5 days post-announcement, preventing proper handovers.
Management cited "financial reasons" for layoffs, yet 6 new vacancies appeared shortly after. During my termination, I was told there would be a hiring freeze — this did not match what followed. It felt like swapping experienced professionals for cheaper hires.
The termination process itself felt dehumanizing to me. The conversation lasted under 15 minutes with pre-prepared scripts. There was no room for questions or discussion. I was escorted out of systems in a couple of days.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Among peers — strong. People genuinely help each other.
However, information hoarding is a problem. The "old guard" (6+ years tenure) often refuses to document legacy systems, making themselves indispensable. New hires are thrown into the fire without proper knowledge transfer.
I witnessed unqualified colleagues (appeared to receive preferential treatment) form cliques and treat actual experts as threats. One protected employee ran SELECT * on 60GB production tables, crashing performance — and refused to acknowledge the error.
Work-Life-Balance
I felt strong pressure to work beyond regular hours without extra compensation. When I requested a single day off for an urgent family matter, my lead interrogated me on what exactly it was and why it couldn't be handled in an hour. After surgery, I was guilt-tripped for taking sick leave and told that "a lot of time has been lost."
In several departments, vacations were blocked starting in summer. Those same employees were laid off in fall — the timing felt deliberate.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
In my experience, strategic planning appeared disconnected from market realities — for example, expectations of rapid US market capture, optimistic growth assumptions, and targets like 1 million customers in 5 years that seemed misaligned with operational capacity. When results fell short of these projections, the response was staff reductions rather than strategy revision.
During layoffs, managers who knew for days feigned ignorance ("I didn't know") to deflect blame upward to CEO. Even Heads of Departments couldn't answer basic questions about their own business logic.
The probation trap: people on probation receive no meaningful feedback. You are assured everything is fine until the moment you are terminated. Discovering "performance issues" one week before the end of the probationary period is not management — it's hiring incompetence. Firing people days or weeks before their probation ends is the company's signature move.
Interessante Aufgaben
For a "tech company," the setup is problematic: 8 years of technical debt, undocumented APIs, Looker views with 15+ joins where business logic is hardcoded. The same variable names mean different things across Salesforce, Booking CRM, and internal APIs. Reporting is fundamentally unreliable. You realize you will be hired as a janitor, not an engineer.
The "Pricing Black Box": I could not find anyone who could explain or prove in code how the final customer price is composed.
Gleichberechtigung
In the Winter/Spring hiring wave (~10 people), the company hired both managers and specialists. In the layoffs, they fired the hands-on contributors during probation but kept the new managers.
In my experience, the People/HR function played a central role in the restructuring process. What stood out to me was that senior HR leadership appeared to join the company not long before the restructuring began and departed shortly after it was completed. To me, this sequence raised serious questions about the intended purpose of the role and the company's approach to long-term accountability. The remaining team was left to deal with the aftermath.
Arbeitsbedingungen
HR & Legal Incompetence. The administrative process regarding contracts felt extremely unprofessional to me. I received initial contract documents where signatures appeared as pasted image scans rather than qualified electronic signatures. When I raised concerns, the response felt dismissive.
My mandatory Arbeitszeugnis required repeated follow-ups over several weeks. It was issued only after I explicitly mentioned involving a lawyer.
The employee council was silent during layoffs — no communication, no support.
Gehalt/Benefits
In my case, the salary was good. If it weren't for the overtime, legal risks, and a lot of stress. However:
During garden leave my remaining vacation days were offset against the release period instead of being paid out. While this might be their policy, it felt like a financial loss of earned compensation to me.
The VSOP (Virtual Stock Option Plan) appears to be a hollow promise. Since the company frequently terminates contracts before the 1-year vesting cliff, the equity serves mainly to justify lower base salaries. You will likely never see a cent.
Image
Glossy on the outside. The company presents itself as a "tech company," but internally it operates like an 8-year-old startup with significant technical debt and process gaps.
I noticed that positive reviews on employer platforms tend to appear in clusters shortly after negative ones. This pattern raised questions for me about the authenticity of the company's public image.
During the hiring process, the role was presented to me as focused on building new data products. In reality, I spent the majority of my time firefighting legacy issues and cleaning up undocumented pipelines. The gap between what was promised and what I experienced was significant.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
No budget or time for training. You are expected to fix legacy issues without guidance or documentation. Two key Data Scientists quit one month before the layoffs — three years without promotions and mounting chaos. When people who know the systems best leave voluntarily, it's a signal.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Arbeitgeber-Kommentar
Hi,
Thank you for taking the time and effort you’ve put into sharing your perspective. As Head of TA, I’ve read your review carefully, and I want to start by saying we are genuinely sorry that you left the company with such a high level of frustration.
It is clear from your detailed account that your experience did not align with your expectations. While we understand that the recent restructuring and your own departure shortly before the end of your probation were difficult, we stand by the necessity of the strategic decisions made to ensure the company's long-term health.
Regarding your specific points:
Organizational Change:
We recognize that transitions, including our AI-driven transformation and the necessary staff adjustments, can be unsettling. While these were difficult steps that we did not take lightly, they were taken with the company’s future stability in mind and were not an unelaborated push (in your words “churn and burn”), but a necessary and considered response to current economic realities.
Probation & Feedback:
Decisions made during a probationary period are never taken lightly. While it is unfortunate that you felt caught off guard, our goal is always to ensure a long-term fit for both the individual and the team.
Technical Environment:
As a company actively driving an AI-led transformation, we are by definition operating in a space of constant change and evolving systems – that is not a bug, it is the nature of what we do. The roles we hire for are designed for people who thrive in building and shaping, not for those who prefer to step into a fully established setup. We understand this isn't the right environment for everyone, and we respect that.
Administrative Processes:
We regret any delays you experienced with your Arbeitszeugnis. While we aim for excellence in all HR operations, we acknowledge that during periods of high workload, timelines can occasionally shift.
We appreciate the passion you brought to your role. While we have a different view on several of the points raised, we respect your right to share your experience.
We wish you nothing but success and a work environment that better matches your personal expectations in your next role.
Best regards,
Your Tourlane Team