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Former Away employees describe a toxic work environment

110 points by kyleblarson 7y ago

PragmaticPulp 7y ago
> The day before Valentine’s Day, Korey decided she was going to stop the team from taking any more time off. In a series of Slack messages that began at 3AM, she said, “I know this group is hungry for career development opportunities, and in an effort to support you in developing your skills, I am going to help you learn the career skill of accountability. To hold you accountable...no more [paid time off] or [work from home] requests will be considered from the 6 of you...I hope everyone in this group appreciates the thoughtfulness I’ve put into creating this career development opportunity and that you’re all excited to operate consistently with our core values.” (The emphasis is Korey’s.) > Four days later, when she noticed two managers still had time off on the calendar, she was livid. “If you all choose to utilize your empowerment to leave our customers hanging...you will have convinced me that this group does not embody Away’s core values,” she said. (Again, emphasis Korey’s.) Textbook abusive manager behavior. Performance management is not about disciplining people and spinning it as a thoughtful career opportunity is the kind of thing that feels ludicrous from the outside, but it's crushing for junior employees who fear the career impact of losing their jobs The bit about controlling communications and forbidding private discussions is another abusive behavior. These types of abusive companies filter for vulnerable employees who don't know any better. If you've only worked at a company like this, it's typical to think that these toxic behaviors are normal. It's good to have articles like this framing the abusive behavior as not-normal.
- hstreet 7y ago
  I've worked for about a dozen tech companies, and all but 1 were like this...and even that one was probably bearable because I got along with the right crowd. It shouldn't have to be like that though, and I'd like to know of any non-toxic tech companies that exist :)
lil-scamp 7y ago
The micromanagement seems like a common trap for junior-ish CEOs/Founders to fall into...but those Slack screenshots are something else.
altacc 7y ago
I can’t quite wrap my mind round all this for luggage! The level of BS jargon going on is truly awful. Making luggage isn’t “joining a movement”. I’m glad more companies are being exposed for this craziness but I doubt it’ll ever stop, considering the work culture in the US.
notkaiho 7y ago
This is utterly, utterly avoidable and the fact that they literally fired the person in charge of trying to fix it shows they are determined to blow it.
tuesdayrain 7y ago
>"That was jarring — three white people telling me I was racist,” she says. I'm amused by the lack of self awareness of anyone who can say that.

110 points by kyleblarson 7y ago

> The day before Valentine’s Day, Korey decided she was going to stop the team from taking any more time off. In a series of Slack messages that began at 3AM, she said, “I know this group is hungry for career development opportunities, and in an effort to support you in developing your skills, I am going to help you learn the career skill of accountability. To hold you accountable...no more [paid time off] or [work from home] requests will be considered from the 6 of you...I hope everyone in this group appreciates the thoughtfulness I’ve put into creating this career development opportunity and that you’re all excited to operate consistently with our core values.” (The emphasis is Korey’s.) > Four days later, when she noticed two managers still had time off on the calendar, she was livid. “If you all choose to utilize your empowerment to leave our customers hanging...you will have convinced me that this group does not embody Away’s core values,” she said. (Again, emphasis Korey’s.) Textbook abusive manager behavior. Performance management is not about disciplining people and spinning it as a thoughtful career opportunity is the kind of thing that feels ludicrous from the outside, but it's crushing for junior employees who fear the career impact of losing their jobs The bit about controlling communications and forbidding private discussions is another abusive behavior. These types of abusive companies filter for vulnerable employees who don't know any better. If you've only worked at a company like this, it's typical to think that these toxic behaviors are normal. It's good to have articles like this framing the abusive behavior as not-normal.

hstreet 7y ago
I've worked for about a dozen tech companies, and all but 1 were like this...and even that one was probably bearable because I got along with the right crowd. It shouldn't have to be like that though, and I'd like to know of any non-toxic tech companies that exist :)

lil-scamp 7y ago

The micromanagement seems like a common trap for junior-ish CEOs/Founders to fall into...but those Slack screenshots are something else.

altacc 7y ago

I can’t quite wrap my mind round all this for luggage! The level of BS jargon going on is truly awful. Making luggage isn’t “joining a movement”. I’m glad more companies are being exposed for this craziness but I doubt it’ll ever stop, considering the work culture in the US.

notkaiho 7y ago

This is utterly, utterly avoidable and the fact that they literally fired the person in charge of trying to fix it shows they are determined to blow it.

tuesdayrain 7y ago

>"That was jarring — three white people telling me I was racist,” she says. I'm amused by the lack of self awareness of anyone who can say that.