Pros
* Talented, well-intentioned colleagues doing their best in a difficult environment.
Kontras
* Leadership was a consistent concern. Expectations around availability regularly extended into time off, with engineers effectively on-call 24/7 without additional compensation. There were also noticeable gaps in domain understanding at senior levels, which affected decision-making across the organisation.
* Hiring practices lacked consistency and meritocracy. Roles were often filled through personal networks, and there appeared to be a preference for candidates with certain sporting backgrounds, regardless of role relevance.
* People processes were poorly handled. Redundancies and internal issues were managed in ways that felt overly visible and lacking in professionalism or discretion.
* Terminations could be sudden, with unclear or inconsistently applied disciplinary procedures, contributing to a sense of instability.
* Products were frequently released before they were ready, leading to ongoing reliability issues and repeated rework.
* Product understanding outside of core technical teams was limited. A small number of knowledgeable individuals carried a disproportionate share of the load, while others did not meaningfully close the gap.
* The overall environment felt insecure. There was an expectation to support and promote products that were not yet fully functional.
* A strong focus on external image and “high-performance” culture often masked underlying operational and cultural issues.