Fun and friendly place to work - Recensione dipendente - Software Engineer presso TLA

Some amazing people within the business. You do get looked after with items such as annual bonus, pay reviews and the opportunity to take part in a number of fitness activities etc.

Where to start, a smaller business of around 20-30 employees, very top heaving with a number of 'Heads of / Senior' titled roles. The leadership within the Development/IT function is non existent with a distinct lack of trust. Leadership within this area would regularly backstab team members behind their backs, favoritism and if they didn't like you, they would make sure the CEO knew. As mentioned the leadership in this area is poor, and only progressed into this role by telling the CEO what he wants them to hear and also due to mediocre technical knowledge. A number of amazing team members have left this department over recent years, some of their own choosing but a number exited with redundancy as their face no longer fitted, however there is one constant that always remains the same..... Use of technology for team members is questionable to ensure the team have the right tools for the job. If you don't use AI, then this isn't the place for you unfortunately.

There are some lovely and talented people here (or at least at the time of writing they'd not yet been given the boot). In particular the product team are great to work with. I had some good days out in my time at TLA, in this regard at least they go all in. The office is in a nice location and has incredible views across the city.

Cut Throat Nature - TLA is a hive of political machinations, plotting and backstabbing. As a TLA employee you will have all the job security of a snowman in a Swedish sauna. During my time at TLA I saw a parade of dedicated and long term employees being lined up for "redundancy" - often with the victim being the only person who didn't know the axe was about to fall. In particular I was disgusted by the treatment of a junior developer being brought in, given no real work or support to speak of and then being cast out. The real piece de resistance however was a long term, dedicated and talented employee who was bundled out just weeks after returning from parental leave. You stay classy, TLA. Technical Leadership - I use the words "Technical" and "Leadership" only in the loosest possible sense. First the technical; the tech leadership at TLA has worked only at TLA. This isn't necessarily a problem, but if that's what you're going to do I would expect you to have a keen interest in what goes on elsewhere, so that you can learn and grow. Nope - if it wasn't invented in TLA, its of no interest to anyone. Generally speaking the systems are very poor, and there seems to be no interest in improving that. The technical acumen however is positively Einsteinian compared to the leadership skills. I've never seen technical leadership so clearly out of their depth. That would be forgivable if it was coupled with a willingness to learn and cooperate. It is not. Blame is cast around daily. Everyone is trashed behind their backs. Goalposts are moved. Promises are made and rowed back on. Any hint of success is perceived as a threat to be eliminated. Lack Of Trust - I guess if you've read this far then this comes as no surprise, but serious professionals are treated like potential thieves. You will be monitored. God forbid you get ill and have to take a day to recover. Questionable Hiring Practices - I won't say much here but I will say that the phrase "just not a good cultural fit" was heard way more often than I'd like. In general I'd advise anyone to think extremely carefully before applying for a role at TLA, but if you do then make sure you speak entirely uncritically about AI - its practically a religion. Ironically the AI adoption is very poor - if you treat it like a productivity tool it has real value, if you treat it as a magic employee replacement then its fairly useless.