Senior management believes in an 'I can do no wrong' approach. On one day, we had a meeting where we were warned "do not make changes to products simply because YOU think it's a good idea - make sure you have good reasons." Sure, that makes sense. But then literally one hour later, we had a design meeting for the project I was working on, and I was told "I think we should totally change this up, because I don't like it the way it is." When I tried to point out we'd been researching and developing the current design for months, I was told he was the boss and therefore I had to do what he said.
They track every single move you make. On every computer, there is a program installed that tracks keystrokes, takes a screenshot every five minutes, and another screenshot every time you open a new window, and counts mouse clicks. If you don't press a key or click the mouse at least once per minute, it logs that you have gone "idle". It was extremely off-putting that I could not google something without senior management potentially being aware of it, and I could not take a five-minute break without my computer logging it. This was even worse because sometimes I would genuinely be working, but not at my computer. For example, in a meeting.
There is little community feel. When I worked there, there was a 'kitchen' facility. It had a microwave, and a fridge. There was no space to sit and relax, or communicate with co-workers. You literally had to converse while sitting at your desk, or standing in a corridor. There was nowhere else to go.
Lunchtime is set to be half an hour as standard. When I started working there, I was unaware of this rule, but was soon informed: "Your lunch hour is half an hour." As such, my agreement to work 9-5 days was obviously thrown out the window. I either had to work 9-5:30, skip half the lunch hour I expected, or eat at my desk while I worked. Most people chose to work and eat at the same time.
The high turnover rate reflects how difficult it is to work there. There are a few employees who have worked there for longer, but even they admit dealing with senior management is difficult. The advice I was given was "just do what he says and once he's satisfied you can fix it."
