I'm considering accepting an opportunity at Netflix, but I'm not sure what the environment is like. Can someone at Netflix or who has worked at Netflix give an objective description as to what it's like there? I've read that everyone there is very smart, and the bar is set extremely high. I am very good (amongst the top people in every group I've worked at), but I'm not a god so I'm worried that I'm not good enough and that I will be let go within a month. Are things really that competitive and cutthroat as I've heard, given what I heard was a 10%/quarter turnover rate?
I've known people who've worked at Netflix and have complained about some toxic policies.<p>Some highlights I can recall:<p>Unlimited ESPP rewards already wealthy employees. If you can afford to not take any pay for six months, you basically get a big bonus.<p>I was told there was (and may still be) some kind of stack ranking system. Employees are fired if they're in the bottom x percent of performance reviews, even if they did a good job. In a company that's obsessed with everyone being exceptional, merely being adequate is considered failure.<p>Unlimited vacation time is like an Orwellian joke. What it really means is you don't accrue PTO, can't cash it out like at other companies, and how much vacation you really get to take is a constant negotiation with management. The net effect is nobody takes any because nobody wants to be the guy who takes too much vacation, for fear of being perceived as one of those lower performing employees that gets let go each year.<p>The whole thing sounded icky to me.
I currently work at Netflix. Opinions contained herein are entirely my own, sorry for any errors I typed this on a phone. Hope I can help you make a decision. More than willing to answer any questions, just reply here. :)<p>The turnover rate you quoted is undoubtedly overstated or at least out of date. As for getting fired within a month, it won't happen. People are generally let go for a repeated pattern of major failures, and I can elaborate here if necessary.<p>I work on an incredibly high performing team at Netflix and would consider myself to be one of the bottom percentile people on the team. I don't fear for my job, and I don't have to. I get amazing coworkers, and I learn a lot almost every day. I can really depend on my team.<p>I'll address a few criticisms I've seen in other comments:<p>Unlimited vacation: It's not BS. My manager recently told the team to take more vacation. I responded by letting him know that next week if be taking a month off. His response "just so we're both clear, you're telling me, not asking me, because I'd be really uncomfortable if you felt like you had to ask."<p>Performance: Coworkers are generally really high performers, people genuinely care, but the tendency to hire senior employees means a lot of family people, and there is work life balance. There is no "stack ranking" system in place and to my knowledge there never has been.<p>Unlimited stock contribution being a bonus for already rich employees: Really? Really?! I say this as someone who came in with a negative net worth and no cash flow. You're taking risk in exchange for potential reward with the stock plan. Those who are rich can afford to take more risk, and they are taking more risk by putting more in. Sure maybe not risk of ruin but there is financial risk. What's wrong with this? it's been lucrative, I was considered a "heavy contributor" by company standards but pretty light compared to some I talked to.<p>Expectations: You set and manage these for yourself. Sometimes you screw then up. This is sometimes a challenge for me, but it's entirely within my own influence. This quarter I set lower commitments and took the first month off. It hasn't been an issue.<p>Again, opinions are my own.
I don't have any intimate knowledge of working at NetFlix, but holy crap they pay well: <a href="http://data.jobsintech.io/companies/netflix-inc/2015" rel="nofollow">http://data.jobsintech.io/companies/netflix-inc/2015</a><p>PS - In almost every business I've ever encountered, people are a lot less godlike than you might perceive from an external view.
If you're good and what you do and have passed the interview process, you'll be fine. The fact that you are self-aware enough to understand the high performance culture and what it takes to meet that bar further indicates that you'll fit in.<p>There isn't a stack rank system at all. Nothing like it in fact.<p>High turn over - more so in the customer service side of the business; not the engineering side.<p>Source: work at Netflix, interview a lot of engineering candidates, have thrown things at diab0lic.<p>[edit 1]
Answering a few other questions:<p>Unlimited vacation - yup it's true and encouraged. Being unable to cash out 2-3 weeks of vacation isn't something I see as a big deal. I take more time off than that. My co-workers not my managers make me feel bad about it. Why? They're on vacation.<p>Work and work load - I choose much of what I work on. My job is to make things better at Netflix and I'm trusted to do so.<p>High salary - many other companies put some of your remuneration in RSUs, options, or other vehicles that may create future benefit. So you're gambling and you have to stick around to see if it pays off. Netflix pays you your salary in cash right now; no golden handcuffs in the form of vesting schedules or stock levels. (There is an optional options program)
I worked in two different groups while I was at Netflix. I loved it. The engineers on their team are consistently good and there is low tolerance for under performers. They take their culture seriously and their leadership is very strong. I'd be happy to work for them again in the future.<p>Re: expectations about excess work. It's your own responsibility to set expectations about what you can get done and how quickly you can get it done. I was reasonably successful at this and took lots of time off the last year I was there, m wife had our first baby. Since I was able to set reasonable expectations I got a great raise that year, despite the time that I took off.
I had a manager who worked for Netflix, and looked into a position with them after leaving his group, asking him roughly this question.<p>Unsatisfyingly, his answer was, it depends on who you work for. They have a "Freedom and Performance" culture that I'm sure you have seen a slideshow PDF for, and my old manager said that to some people this means, "Get your shit done and work when / wherever you want", to others it means, "Categorically you must work 80 hours a week". Since he was of the former school, I got the impression he worked for someone from the latter school.<p>I didn't get an offer, so it was an easy choice. ;)
Don't work there but friends in ops industry have them as a client. Cool story: to handle EC2 performance variance, they systematically spin up some multiple of required capacity, have all the instances run a benchmark, then terminate the slowest and least deterministic.
Netflix employee 2009-2011; built the user-facing parts of the original iPhone and Android apps. If you are an engineer--sorry, can't speak to other roles--and you can possibly swing a stint at Netflix, do so. They move fast, pay a ton, and you'll build a universally-loved product with some of the smartest people in the world.
Had a friend who worked at apple, went to netflix, and was back at apple within under a year. It may have been a move to get a raise with apple, but it could have also been a reflection on netflix. Take that for what you will.
I've been at Netflix for 2211 days (a little more than six years). Joined as an IT engineer, became an IT manager, became an engineer in the Product Engineering side, then became a manager in the Product Engineering side. At least two of the people who've already responded in this thread report to me.<p>I wrote my impressions of six years at Netflix here: <a href="http://royrapoport.blogspot.com/2015/06/when-youre-having-fun.html" rel="nofollow">http://royrapoport.blogspot.com/2015/06/when-youre-having-fu...</a>