The Wall Street Journal has published a series of interviews with over 70 former and current Netflix employees detailing the streaming giant’s current corporate culture and attitude. To give you an idea of where this is going, the phrase “corporate hell” is tossed around a few times.
The interviewed employees describe the social climate at Netflix as brutally honest, ritualistically humiliating, confusing and lingo-ridden, and, above all, in a state of constant fear. Firings happen frequently and seemingly at random, with supervisors apparently encouraged to cull any employees that don’t perform at the absolute highest level of excellence at all times. This is partially to keep the work force in top form, but also serves as a stress test for the supervisors themselves, as any who don’t fire weak employees are viewed as weak themselves.
Executives regularly hold meetings characterized by nonstop criticism and mud-slinging, with employees often singled out and publicly shamed whenever some kind of problem occurs. These unlucky employees are forced to stand up at meetings and give an explanation of what happened and an apology, not unlike a child. Also, whenever someone is fired, nearly every other employee receives an email detailing who was fired and why.
In a comment on the interviews, Netflix execs said that the company believes “strongly in maintaining a high performance culture and giving people the freedom to do their best work.” They have not commented on the public shaming allegations.
