Cruise Automation as toxic as people say it is?
I’ve heard people say that they love it, but some people on the internet describe it as a total shitstorm. Anyone here have experience?
Cruise has a gnarly no-disparagement clause in their employment contract and NDA, so you might not see as much candor here as you do for some other companies. In general, if you identify a negative trend in reports for any company, you should take it seriously. Ask lots of questions during the hiring process, and ultimately trust your gut.
Join Argo, we are like cruise, but a non toxic culture & have the largest car company in the world on our side (VW)
It just depends on the team. I really liked it compared to Facebook. I think the concern is mostly on some core AV teams, which is usually the case with the most high pressure teams at companies
Like most fast growing startups, there are pockets of bad/inexperienced management, both within and outside of eng. In some cases, first time managers reporting to first time managers. However, unhappy or fired employees usually make up a larger proportion of people who come to blind to complain. I think that vast majority of cruise and people I talk to are happy (we have pretty low turnover). Consider that there will probably be 2-3 successful self driving car platforms globally, cruise is definitely in a strong position to win here. Have been at Cruise (eng) for 2.5 years, love the culture much more than previous well known SF company. If you do join, make sure to interview your direct manager, and I would also recommend having a call with your skip level manager to make sure you're impressed. Slotting generally happens after the phone interview, so you can even do this before onsite if you want.
+1. The large majority of culture is excellent, humble people learning from each other everyday
Same. Great humility & some brilliantly smart people, they’re just not trolling on blind.
It’s fine actually. Lots of blind trolls though.
Cruise AI is solid. Would recommend
I am still with Cruise, and I can vouch Cruise definitely has culture issues. There is a lot of politics compared to an average company. There is a lot of toxicity and back stabbing. Cruise doesn't really care about its employees, their strategy is to let employees burnout
To be honest I think this is an issue with some teams only. I don't doubt you, but plenty of people (including myself and others on this thread) do not share your experience. You might think about changing teams.
I have been in the company for 2 years and I know Cruise in and out. I have worked in different parts of Cruise. No one can hide the truth. We have to change or lose talent. No point in hiding facts.
Loving it so far. Best company I've worked for. But it's only been 9 months, so... I'm sure it's team/manager dependent
Definitely depends on the team comrade. Select AV teams and select Infra teams are awesome though. Met some cool ppl
Other Cruisers will skewer me for this, but in my experience, Cruise is absolutely toxic and unsustainable. It’s actually one of the most toxic places I’ve ever worked at (and trust me, I’ve worked at a lot). Ppl mentioned this already, but I think a major part of the toxicity is due to the management and leadership. There is no direction or guidance, and every team is out there for itself. A horrifyingly disorganized, chaotic Game of Thrones. I think it’s interesting to see the comments that other Cruisers post here when one dares to criticize anything about the company— lots of dismissing and victim-blaming, no careful or thoughtful analysis or empathy.
+1
Blame game make up for toxicity. The mgmt and IC are part of the problem.