Talented engineers crippled by poor management practices - Data Science Team Leader Whisker Employee Review

great company. great culture. great products.

I do not have any cons worth citing

The product and the product problems the company is trying to solve/fix are genuinely interesting, and the peer-level engineering team is full of fantastic, talented people. Pets in the office is also a nice perk.

Buzzword Innovation: The company wants to lean into software and the AI wave but has no idea what that actually means. Engineering leadership has mistaken using AI chatbots for actual technical innovation and thinks that constitutes building "AI-first products." Detached & Toxic Leadership: Direct management doesn't understand what their technical teams actually do. Leadership & software architecture is also highly toxic, frequently talking down to engineers and dismissing their work. Bloated Management Ratio: Following massive layoffs at the beginning of this year and the frequent high turnover, the engineering team has been reduced to a skeleton crew. Instead of backfilling individual contributors, the company feels it's better off hiring executives, leaving a completely bloated manager-to-IC ratio. Carrot-Dangling & Retaliation: Career growth and compensation are a game of constant carrot-dangling. Leadership claims they want feedback, but honest feedback is met with retaliation or issues being swept under the rug.