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Facebook Tops List of Best Places To Work -- Again (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what-people-say dept.

From a report: If you work at Facebook, count yourself pretty lucky. And not just for the free meals, on-site health care or new-parent benefits. But those things probably factor into the social-networking giant being named the best place to work in 2018 by jobs site Glassdoor. And it's probably been a good experience for a while, seeing how this is the third year in a row Facebook has been atop Glassdoor's list of 100 best places to work. If you don't work at Facebook, there might still be hope for you. Glassdoor said there were 40 newcomers on this year's list, including video game maker Blizzard Entertainment (at No. 28 on the list) and wireless carrier T-Mobile (No. 79). There are also three veterans that have made the list every year since it was introduced 10 years ago, including management-consulting firm Bain & Company (No. 2), search giant Google (No. 5) and Apple (No. 84).

22 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. It's a company town, Joe... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like Bisbee, AZ or Foxconn City.

    Free meals, medical care on site? What's not to like? Pretty soon, they'll put up the housing and you'll never have to leave the company plantation.

    This is why I like living and working in cities -- gives you more random interactions with people, a choice of where to live, work, eat, etc.

    1. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by thegreatbob · · Score: 3, Funny

      Indeed... I definitely need a little bit of structure to my life... but not that much structure!

      --
      There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
    2. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by DickBreath · · Score: 4, Funny

      Will Facebook have the compassion of Foxconn to put up suicide nets to prevent employees from offing themselves?

      Does the employment agreement allow Facebook to harvest an employee's vital organs (assuming their ISP hasn't already gotten them first)?

      Isn't everyone at Facebook a user of PHP? Does PHP show up on a random drug test?

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    3. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by scourfish · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, shame on a company for offering convenience and perks that make working for them attractive.

    4. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The only "perks" I want are a humane amount of vacation time (3-4 weeks, as most of the world gets) and 40 hour weeks. Oh, and good pay. I can find my own social life outside of the company door.

      I don't want to be enticed to live my entire life at work.

    5. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem with "Perks" is that there is a cost for them to the Company. That cost could just as easily be exchanged for more employee pay so that YOU can choose what "Perks" YOU want to offer yourself. I work at a small company and we have this discussion all the time: "Would you rather have more cash pay or XYZ perk." Every time the result is XYZ perk is great for 3/4 of the people but is worthless for 1/4 and so we continue to opt for more pay, which allows everyone to buy whatever god damn "perk" we want (or even *gasp* save it).

      There are huge problems with offering "Perks" because not everyone uses them or wants to use them. If I don't like the free food and buy my lunch somewhere else every day then I get screwed compared to everyone else. Add all the little perks up and some people are making out like bandits and others feel screwed while a group in the middle is financially indifferent but they have someone else deciding things for them.

      The real reason for perks is more nefarious: 1) It controls the employee by keeping them close to the office for all their "needs" and reduces ability to "take lunch" or otherwise "leave the compound" to find a better job. 2) It is great "free" marketing (see this and other articles talking about how awesome XYZ company is because they give away "XYZ" for "free". No dipshit, its coming out of your pay one way or another. It is not free. 3) Perks can act as a "loss center" to reduce corporate taxes without payroll or other taxes. Its a lot easier for a company to deduct these as "business expenses" than an employee. 4) Makes employees specialized parts in a machine rather than well rounded individuals that can take care of themselves.

      Taken to the extreme, "Perks" are basically the same as slavery: You get your food, water, shelter, and entertainment chosen by the company you work for, at no cost to you. All you have to do is stay in this compound and consume what you are given for "free". Because you earn no cash money, you can't operate outside the company compound.

    6. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      It's quite common to provide a meal and maybe some exercise facilities at European companies. It's considered a fairly standard perk. Smaller places order food in, larger places have their own kitchen and staff.

      Child care and some medical services are also starting to appear, especially in Japan where the government really wants people to have more children.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Informative

      UK legal minimum is 5 weeks, and most of Europe is similar. 3 weeks is a joke, not nearly enough.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by mobby_6kl · · Score: 2

      Yeah at the HQ there are lunches in the cafeteria and my our office, meal vouchers that can be used in most restaurants nearby. There's also a gym that I use instead of going out for lunch.

      Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, my satisfaction with the company as a place of work has little to do with any of this and mostly with the direct team, manager, and work culture there. While everyone puts in maximum time and effort when necessary, you can make up for it by bailing early on Fridays or other slow days. Nobody cares when you check in and check out. Work from home as much as you want or need. Hell, work from a different country.

      My place is in the top 15, but I'm not sure how I feel about it being beaten by a fast food company.

    9. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by mopower70 · · Score: 2

      UK and most of European salaries are a joke, so I'd call it even.

    10. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      Costs of living/housing in real cities (not overheated suburban hells like Vegas, Orlando, or Phoenix) in most of non-UK Europe are also lower than in the US. And health insurance/care costs are also much better controlled.

    11. Re:It's a company town, Joe... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The cost of living in the US is a joke. And by living we include healthcare.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  2. I get to censor people! WHEE!!! by Chas · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course it is.

    It's a bastion of reactionary, authoritarian Leftism plonked right down in the middle of one of the furthest left-leaning cities in a state that's practically deranged by how far left it leans.

    (These people think if they subvert local government, they can completely exempt themselves from federal laws whenever they want. Oh, and they want to secede because the rest of the country isn't as nuts as they are.)

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  3. Ethics by JohnFen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you work at Facebook, count yourself pretty lucky.

    And lacking a sense a sense of ethics.

  4. Re:Survivors bias? by Bert64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Many people stay at jobs they hate for all kinds of reasons...

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  5. Re:I get to censor people! WHEE!!! by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Insightful

    (a) FB HQ is not in San Francisco, it's in Menlo Park, closer to San Jose.
    (b) California's residents are fairly centrist. There's just less religious nutbaggery as far as wanting to control what science people learn in school (birth control, sex ed, etc).
    (c) California would do well as the world's (7th?) largest economy if Calexit happens (don't Conservatives want CA out, already?). They'd probably even make a free-trade pact with Mexico just to annoy the Trumpites.

  6. Subjective... by Bert64 · · Score: 2

    Wether a place is good to work at or not depends on your personal circumstances - what job do you do, who are your immediate colleagues and manager, how far do you have to commute to work etc. I've seen many companies were certain departments were treated like kings, while other people doing different jobs are treated like dirt.

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  7. Two Words by Shogun37 · · Score: 2

    Stockholm Syndrome. Sure, the perks must be nice. But literally living in Big Brother's House has got to do something to their heads. Give a good review, or get fast tracked out the door. And Big Brother is watching...

  8. You learn what works by rcharbon · · Score: 2

    Back in the day, when I worked at a Serious Company that took these things Seriously, we employees learned to give everything the top rating. That cut down on the inevitable bullshit that followed the survey, as management attempted to force us to fix whatever scored badly.

    1. Re:You learn what works by Tempest_2084 · · Score: 2

      I was about to say this. Complaining about anything, even anonymously, leads to trouble. Either management will ignore the complaint and try and track down the 'troublemakers' (there's really no such thing as anonymous feedback folks) or they'll go the exact opposite and bend over backwards to fix the issue only going overboard and causing new issues in return. It never works out the way you think it will.

      An example: Someone complained that there were never enough meeting rooms open and they couldn't discuss needed issues with their co-workers. Management's response? An open floor plan so everyone can talk to the person next to them non-stop (as long as you shout that is). Now everyone in that department is miserable as hell and they still have communication problems because it's too loud to hold meetings. The manager who put that open floor plan in is long gone (golden retirement parachute for his moronic dickery) and they all suffer.

    2. Re:You learn what works by rcharbon · · Score: 2

      Complaint: Too many meetings Response: Meetings to discuss how to reduce the number of meetings When I was assigned to the committee that would meet to discuss how to reduce the number of meetings I pointed out (repeatedly) that we could start reducing the number of meetings by cancelling the meetings to discuss how to reduce the number of meetings. I got tossed out of the committee. Unsurprisingly, there was no useful result from those meetings.

  9. Re:Survivors bias? by JohnFen · · Score: 2

    Studies consistently indicate that most people in the US hate their jobs, but stay with them anyway.