- Absurdly unnecessary “perks” that bloat operating expenses. $40 designer plates, a made to order smoothie bar AND separate coffee bar, full Wise Sons deli, and robots you can remotely drive around the office with your face plastered up on a screen in google hangouts weirding everyone out. They also recently brought in a full mariachi band to parade around the office as well as a cotton candy station and magician. All completely necessary when you’re on track to lose north of $80 million in one quarter (this is public information).
- The amount of tech entitlement in San Francisco that you’ve heard about is alive and well here. There was a ridiculous debate concerning the cafeteria's pre-planned closures two days out of the month. Some argued that it was completely unacceptable because 30 minutes spent to go out and get lunch was 30 minutes lost with family or productivity. Ever heard of packing a lunch the night before? How about ordering from the food delivery service your company just acquired for 90 million dollars?
- The company is extremely divided and headed in a million different directions but doesn’t seem to care that it's affecting its bottom line and employee morale. Payments? Register? Capital? Cash? Caviar? Invoices? Appointments? Payroll? Employee Management? Marketing? Remember Wallet and Order? Ask any of your friends or family what Square does and they’ll say, "Um that credit card dongle thing right?" Yet everyone has convinced themselves that we’re known for “more than just our reader." The epitome of biting off more than you can chew.
- Massive attrition. Don’t be surprised to see scores of paperwork and candidates spilling out of the interview rooms. It’s almost a guarantee that the position you’ve applied for was recently vacated and needs to be filled immediately, resulting in a rushed interview process that devalues candidates. But of course they won’t tell you that. If you do interview in person, you can judge the sense of panic for yourself.
- Combine all of this with extremely poor compensation relative to industry standards, atrocious middle management, limited growth opportunities, and a “culture” that seems more like a freshman high school mixer, you can clearly see why they’re struggling to mitigate the massive amount of turnover in all departments.
And while you’re at it, google “Square IPO ratchet” and see who’s really benefiting from the ill-timed IPO.
Square says its mission is to empower its sellers, yet it has mightily failed to empower its own employees.
