At a company that has secrecy and "jobsian" leadership at its core, it's not difficult to believe that this kind of stuff happens.
The question that's more important: is it common, and is it an accepted tradeoff in the company culture.
To those that are expressing disbelief that this happened: even if half of it is made up, its still unacceptable. The reason to not ignore this is that one day, this superteam of arsehole might be in your life.
I hate to be rude but why are you surprised? Companies are not a single person and that goes extra for big companies. It’s possible for all of the above to be true.
Don’t forget local managers and do things against company policy which causes weird stories like the above.
Thing is, though, something equally ridiculous happens at every large company and at more than a few small companies. Worse in government. The important thing is how they react when it's pointed out.
This kind of thing is way more common in the enterprise world than we care to admit.
But at big tech I admit I was surprised.
One of the perks of working to big tech was supposedly being imune to this kind of shenanigans from the suits.
I think this is much more common for large companies (still rare though). I saw it happen exactly once when I was working for a large company early in my career. Never saw it happen again anywhere else.
"Didn't happen to me anecdotally so must be fake news" is not a compelling argument.
Also to say it couldn't happen at tech companies is pretty bold. There's nothing special about tech companies. They can hire incompetent managers just as well as other companies.
It's only preposterous if you aren't at the higher levels of the companies. 3 of the last 4 companies I worked for considered either selling out as a team or hiring a team. It's a thing, just not some thing that is talked about all that much because it's fairly sensitive.
There are some companies where it seems legitimate, especially larger ones. I hear that at Indeed for example it is very legitimate. The problem in smaller ones is not so much that it is a deliberate lie, but rather a promise the business cannot keep as the bus factor for lots of roles is 1.
This is so common in so many companies I've worked with that it doesn't even begin to surprise me. This is an accepted way of life at most tech companies.
That's in my management experience as well. You don't believe it's a real thing until it happens, and then you're still left wondering, "Seriously, am I really dealing with this shit?"
The question that's more important: is it common, and is it an accepted tradeoff in the company culture.
To those that are expressing disbelief that this happened: even if half of it is made up, its still unacceptable. The reason to not ignore this is that one day, this superteam of arsehole might be in your life.
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