4 ms·

Netflix tells ‘woke’ workers to quit if they are offended: ‘culture’ memo

24 points by memish 4y ago

bediger4000 4y ago
This is the NY Post. Seems like time to consider the source.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- jsnell 4y ago
  The article links to https://jobs.netflix.com/culture https://jobs.netflix.com/culture, and the quotes appear to be verbatim and not out of context. (The interpretation that it's specifically about "woke" workers is of course purely from the Post). Unfortunately archive.org isn't working, so it's hard to check whether the text really is new, or something that's in place for years.
  - krapp 4y ago
    >The interpretation that it's specifically about "woke" workers is of course purely from the Post Yeah, that culture page applies just as much to Conservative employees offended by the presence of pro LGBT themes, criticism of religion or minority casting. This isn't the anti-woke own the Post or HN commenters who never read past the title want it to be.
    - true_religion 4y ago
      I agree. Netflix has alot of LGBT-friendly programming. People who believe LGBT is counter to morality would find working at Netflix similarly abhorrent and will also be encouraged to leave.
  - exidy 4y ago
    The story has been picked up by the WSJ[1] and includes the following text confirming it is a recent change: > A Netflix spokesman said the company updated its culture page on Thursday for the first time since 2017. He said Netflix had spent the past 18 months discussing cultural issues internally with employees. The new language was added, he said, “so that prospective employees could understand our position, and make better informed decisions about whether Netflix is the right company for them.” [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-to-employees-if-you-dont-like-our-content-you-can-quit-11652478092 https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-to-employees-if-you-don...
- jmclnx 4y ago
  True, but due to the subscriber loss, I wonder if this is a ploy by Netflix to get as many people to leave so they do not have to fire people due to the decline. Firing people in many US States will cause their taxes to increase.
- rvz 4y ago
  > Seems like time to consider the source. It says the following in the article if you've read it and can also be found in [0] as the source: “Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful,” the communiqué continued. “If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.” [0] Given the plummeting subscribers, cancellations and password-sharing chaos and a cratering stock crash, they are cleaning up the dead wood and costs, including this and it sort of makes sense here. Therefore, I find the evidence in this article and the findings in the internal memo highly likely to be true, otherwise they would have kept those workers as if their actions did not impact the company. [0] https://jobs.netflix.com/culture https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
blisterpeanuts 4y ago
The Post article refers to the Netflix memo: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture https://jobs.netflix.com/culture To my mind, this memo is fairly innocuous; compared to a more traditional dry HR employee guidelines document, it's rather inspirational and idealistic. Nothing wrong with that. The one line that seems to have triggered the Post reporter: As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you. I'm not sure I would put that into the employee guidelines, if I were running a company. It does seem a bit... I don't know, dismissive or maybe just unnecessary. Obviously if someone's not happy with the content their company produces, they're free to look for a better fit elsewhere. But why spell it out like that? I do like the little passage from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry at the very end. A company that's producing content needs to stay creative and openminded and continually search for inspiration, and Netflix seems to be aspiring to that goal.
- EddieDante 4y ago
  I don't see the problem with this passage: As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you. I've been called upon to code for law enforcement and the military despite being somewhat left-wing in my personal politics. I've been called upon to code for religious organizations despite being a quietly militant atheist. I don't necessarily like it, but if your personal ethics are more stringent than that of your coworkers you might have to put aside your ideals and dirty your hands if you want to make a living. If the work you're asked to do is that egregiously out of line with your ideals, you should remember that "at-will employment" works both ways. You don't need to give notice or justification. If you dislike your employer or their policies, ghost 'em.
  - blisterpeanuts 4y ago
    Agreed, at-will means you can leave at any time, though perhaps at a cost to your career. I've just never seen a company explicitly say, effectively, "if you don't like it, you can leave" as part of their employee guidelines. Seems unnecessarily blunt.
TrispusAttucks 4y ago
Their 'woke' employees tried to sabotage shows. Good cause for updating their terms.
justinhj 4y ago
Seems fair to me. Paying customers determine what they want to watch, employees choose where they work based on their own values
tomerbd 4y ago
Why was this flagged?
- funstuff007 4y ago
  I agree. This article has relevance in its equivalency to the soft layoffs at Whitehat Jr. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31379722 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31379722

24 points by memish 4y ago

bediger4000 4y ago

This is the NY Post. Seems like time to consider the source.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jsnell 4y ago
The article links to https://jobs.netflix.com/culture https://jobs.netflix.com/culture, and the quotes appear to be verbatim and not out of context. (The interpretation that it's specifically about "woke" workers is of course purely from the Post). Unfortunately archive.org isn't working, so it's hard to check whether the text really is new, or something that's in place for years.
- krapp 4y ago
  >The interpretation that it's specifically about "woke" workers is of course purely from the Post Yeah, that culture page applies just as much to Conservative employees offended by the presence of pro LGBT themes, criticism of religion or minority casting. This isn't the anti-woke own the Post or HN commenters who never read past the title want it to be.
  - true_religion 4y ago
    I agree. Netflix has alot of LGBT-friendly programming. People who believe LGBT is counter to morality would find working at Netflix similarly abhorrent and will also be encouraged to leave.
- exidy 4y ago
  The story has been picked up by the WSJ[1] and includes the following text confirming it is a recent change: > A Netflix spokesman said the company updated its culture page on Thursday for the first time since 2017. He said Netflix had spent the past 18 months discussing cultural issues internally with employees. The new language was added, he said, “so that prospective employees could understand our position, and make better informed decisions about whether Netflix is the right company for them.” [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-to-employees-if-you-dont-like-our-content-you-can-quit-11652478092 https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-to-employees-if-you-don...
jmclnx 4y ago
True, but due to the subscriber loss, I wonder if this is a ploy by Netflix to get as many people to leave so they do not have to fire people due to the decline. Firing people in many US States will cause their taxes to increase.
rvz 4y ago
> Seems like time to consider the source. It says the following in the article if you've read it and can also be found in [0] as the source: “Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful,” the communiqué continued. “If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.” [0] Given the plummeting subscribers, cancellations and password-sharing chaos and a cratering stock crash, they are cleaning up the dead wood and costs, including this and it sort of makes sense here. Therefore, I find the evidence in this article and the findings in the internal memo highly likely to be true, otherwise they would have kept those workers as if their actions did not impact the company. [0] https://jobs.netflix.com/culture https://jobs.netflix.com/culture

blisterpeanuts 4y ago

The Post article refers to the Netflix memo: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture https://jobs.netflix.com/culture To my mind, this memo is fairly innocuous; compared to a more traditional dry HR employee guidelines document, it's rather inspirational and idealistic. Nothing wrong with that. The one line that seems to have triggered the Post reporter: As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you. I'm not sure I would put that into the employee guidelines, if I were running a company. It does seem a bit... I don't know, dismissive or maybe just unnecessary. Obviously if someone's not happy with the content their company produces, they're free to look for a better fit elsewhere. But why spell it out like that? I do like the little passage from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry at the very end. A company that's producing content needs to stay creative and openminded and continually search for inspiration, and Netflix seems to be aspiring to that goal.

EddieDante 4y ago
I don't see the problem with this passage: As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you. I've been called upon to code for law enforcement and the military despite being somewhat left-wing in my personal politics. I've been called upon to code for religious organizations despite being a quietly militant atheist. I don't necessarily like it, but if your personal ethics are more stringent than that of your coworkers you might have to put aside your ideals and dirty your hands if you want to make a living. If the work you're asked to do is that egregiously out of line with your ideals, you should remember that "at-will employment" works both ways. You don't need to give notice or justification. If you dislike your employer or their policies, ghost 'em.
- blisterpeanuts 4y ago
  Agreed, at-will means you can leave at any time, though perhaps at a cost to your career. I've just never seen a company explicitly say, effectively, "if you don't like it, you can leave" as part of their employee guidelines. Seems unnecessarily blunt.

TrispusAttucks 4y ago

Their 'woke' employees tried to sabotage shows. Good cause for updating their terms.

justinhj 4y ago

Seems fair to me. Paying customers determine what they want to watch, employees choose where they work based on their own values

tomerbd 4y ago

Why was this flagged?

funstuff007 4y ago
I agree. This article has relevance in its equivalency to the soft layoffs at Whitehat Jr. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31379722 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31379722