Engineering management follow a very top-down leadership style. Disagreement, even when constructive, is seen as disloyalty and can get you fired
Performance evaluation criteria are unclear. You may be working on initiatives officially prioritized and included in the company’s “green list,” yet still be criticized during performance reviews for focusing on work perceived as having “low monetization potential.” This is particularly frustrating given that engineering is expected to execute on initiatives agreed upon with the product organization
Legacy architecture. Company promises innovation, but in practice, most of the functionality is built on legacy architecture rather than any real AI-driven solutions. There’s no clear tech strategy, and proposing architectural changes often involves months of paperwork and effort to secure approval from the CTO
