- Extremely toxic culture, especially if you end up in the wrong team under poor leadership.
- Persistent lack of respect for individuals; open insults and public criticism in team meetings are normalised under the label of “challenge.”
- Clear rift between Engineering and Product. This was one of the most dysfunctional cross-functional setups I have seen:
Product frequently tried to run the show and make technical decisions on behalf of engineers.
There was little to no mutual respect between functions.
Regular arguments and power struggles added significantly to the overall toxicity.
- Strong management bias — employees are judged based on role, tenure, and proximity to management rather than actual contribution.
- Performance reviews and year-end ratings lack transparency and can be influenced by trivial factors (e.g. incomplete training), with no real opportunity to challenge outcomes.
- The appeal process does not work and feels purely procedural.
- Career progression is virtually impossible without being in your manager’s good books, regardless of performance.
- Scrum Masters are highly micromanaging:
Daily questioning of what you are doing and what you will do next.
Excessive tracking and note-taking against tickets.
Focus on surveillance rather than enabling delivery or team health.
- Poor duty of care towards employee wellbeing and mental health.
