The most mentally and emotionally exhausting job of my career
Pros
Had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the smartest and most driven colleagues I’ve worked with — I learned a lot from their approach, work ethic, and expertise
Cons
This was the most mentally and emotionally exhausting job I’ve ever had. There was no real psychological safety at this company. People were afraid to ask questions or challenge decisions because they had seen what happened to others who did. Smart, committed employees were pushed out for trying to do the right thing. Over time, that fear changed the culture. People stopped speaking up and stopped believing anything would improve. At one point, an employee posted in a company-wide Slack channel about how the pace and expectations were impacting their mental health. Instead of addressing it openly, leadership deleted the message and reached out to the employee privately. Leadership regularly asked for feedback through engagement surveys, but when the most recent survey came back as the worst in company history, they ignored it completely. It was also the only place in my career where I experienced blatant sexism. Even with more than a decade of experience, I was treated like I had to keep proving myself. I wasn’t trusted. I took on high-stakes work with little support, worked nights and weekends, and kept going through incredibly difficult personal circumstances. I didn’t feel like I could show any vulnerability because I believed it would be held against me. Still, I delivered. I never received a negative performance review. I took every piece of feedback seriously, even when it was vague or inconsistent. Layoffs at Snyk are common, and leadership often dismisses any criticism by saying it’s just coming from “disgruntled employees.” Now that I’ve been laid off too, I can say that’s not true. We’re not disgruntled. We’re disappointed. We gave everything and were treated like we didn’t matter. Severance payments were delayed with no clear communication. In Massachusetts, unemployment benefits were held up because Snyk didn’t respond to state requests. A week later, the company shut down operations, leaving everyone with unanswered questions and no support. If you’re thinking about joining Snyk, go in with your eyes open. The brand may look impressive from the outside, but many of us walked away feeling depleted, undervalued, and questioning our worth. Pay close attention to how a company treats people when things get hard. That’s when the truth shows up.
