Facebook may have recently been added to Glassdoor's list of the top 20 American companies to work for, but former employees of Mark Zuckerberg's creation have a completely different view.
Όas it states CNBC more than 12 former employees, who left from the end of 2016 until the end of 2018 from the "central square of the internet village of today", complained -anonymously, fearing retaliation- that the leadership of the colossus and the evaluation system of its employees created one an unfavorable work environment with a culture that is "reminiscent of heresy", discourages disagreements, encourages short-sighted strategic planning and forces employees to pretend to be happy, even if their morale has plummeted.
The post sees the light a few days after saying goodbye to 2018, a year in which Facebook saw its share value fall by almost 30% in the wake of scandals over the platform's role in spreading false information and leaking dozens of personal data. millions of its users, which seriously affected its credibility.
The company declined to comment on the revelations, but former employees insist that despite statements by Facebook's Chief Operating Officer, Cheryl Sandberg that employees are encouraged to "be themselves", they seldom felt that they could articulate a reason to challenge leadership decisions.
The former manager, who resigned early last year, even said that when he asked pressing questions about a company initiative at a general meeting of employees, he accepted - like his superiors - a barrage of angry phone calls from program managers.
"I never felt that the environment there really encouraged you to be yourself, or to express your opposing views, because whenever I did, I received phone calls.", he said.
Other employees said they felt compelled to pretend to be happy with their jobs and to participate in group activities after work shifts to strengthen relationships between coworkers.
One of them, who was in a bad psychological state due to divorce at the time, revealed that he received a savage scolding from a manager because he was absent from such an activity.
And these were not the only pressures they received. As they complained they felt compelled to post positive news about the company on Facebook itself, knowing that all their colleagues were watching.
But, their biggest complaint is about Facebook's employee rating system, which takes place twice a year, a system common in Silicon Valley - but abandoned five years ago after massive complaints from Microsoft employees - which includes Zuckerberg's classification of a certain percentage of the workforce in each of the various rating categories ranking, the lowest of which may mean dismissal.
Anonymous contributions from colleagues also play an important role in this process, which, according to former employees, puts pressure on employees to build friendships with as many people as possible - even with people who do not "fit their tails" or dislike- to distract their positive opinion. "It's kind of like a popularity contest," said a manager.
These assessments force employees to run around every June and December, working late into the night and neglecting their families, to meet the expectations and productivity goals set by the "heads".
The CNBC report suggests that culture in Facebook's work environment and rating system is one of the causes of the company's recent scandals as employees are encouraged to present applications and products without fully controlling their long-term impact on privacy. and user experience.
"If you want to get a promotion that depends on whether you present a new product, it is almost certain that you will do it in a hurry", said a former engineer. "Otherwise you will wait at least another year for the promotion".
