Comment by fennecfoxen | Hacker News Reader

Comment by fennecfoxen | Hacker News Reader

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This class of characterization gets around, though usually the coverage is more directly about the "culture of fear." Please consider how terrible a job is when you're constantly afraid and working yourself to the bone to avoid being fired; it's probably in line with that.

The WSJ had a piece in 2018 which sparked a bunch of follow-on coverage:

"Mr. Hastings’ ring of top executives take the keeper test seriously. At a meeting in late spring of Netflix public-relations executives, one said every day he comes to work he fears he is going to get fired. Karen Barragan, the vice president of publicity for original series, asked how many other people felt that way. A number of hands went up. “Good, because fear drives you,” Ms. Barragan said, according to people familiar with the meeting."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-netflix-radical-transparency...

Other coverage from 2018:

https://qz.com/work/1439451/the-seven-ways-netflix-culture-s...

https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/netflix-culture-of-fea...

https://theweek.com/articles/805123/netflixs-culture-fear

Older coverage:

https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-culture-of-fear-2010...

How does anybody tolerate that kind of work environment? Maybe I'm weak but no amount of money could compensate for that kind of stress and misery IMO. I work for a well-known company that's below FAANG tier but is basically the anti-Netflix. It's just so freaking NICE that I never want to leave even though my salary is slightly below market. I never feel guilty taking time off, employees are encouraged to take sick days which are unlimited and don't count towards PTO, people are out of the office at 6 on the dot, benefits are some of the most generous I've ever seen, and almost everyone is just straight up kind and supportive to one another. Even for things like on call schedules it's understood that it's universally unpleasant but everyone handles it with a positive "we're all in this together" attitude. It sounds corny but these things really do make a great workplace. There are a few people who seem to be institutional dead weight because it's not easy to get fired, but dealing with a few underperformers is a small price to pay to feel happy and relaxed at work every day and live life without perpetual fear of the hammer. Thanks for this reminder that the money is always greener on the other side!

I imagine the money helps. Compensation at a FAANG or other top tech company seems to be on monumentally different tier than the next level down.

You could splurge it, but you could also manage it well and potentially retire early? My friend seems to be on this path.

You could use your time at a FAANG to get experience, accumulate money, and have the FAANG brand on your resume to leverage for future job prospects?

Also from everything I hear, working as a SWE at FAANG and other top tech companies are still more pleasant to work at than as a SWE in other industries - i.e. finance.

>“Good, because fear drives you,”

What a fake. Fear of what? That some rich asshole doesn't like you?

If you get a Netflix job, you can trade down to a ton of other companies with better life balances.

No, not good. Not good at all. "...because Fear drives you..." yes it does. It drives you to a heart attack, or to the offices of a different employer once you wise up and realize that is a terrible way to life your life, and you are borrowing time from your lifespan due to the increased stress. I despise employers who play psychological games like this. Despise it. Are these people who burned ants with magnifying glasses as children?

I think like any company of a decent size, the truth is it depends. On the team, particular individual etc. At least in the engineering side of things, I haven't seen a culture of fear. There is a bit of anxiety going in, because of the reputation, but pretty soon I realized it was pretty exaggerated.

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