Hacker News with Generative AI: Workplace Culture

Tesla settles with worker who claimed employees told "welcome to the plantation" (the-independent.com)
Elon Musk’s Tesla has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit after a Black employee sued the company, alleging a manager sometimes greeted her by saying “welcome to the plantation” and “welcome to the slave house.”
Tesla, Racial Discrimination, Lawsuits, Workplace Culture
52 points by Veserv 6 days ago | 32 comments
Why Your 'Harmonious' Team Is Failing (terriblesoftware.org)
Teams often confuse psychological safety with everyone getting along perfectly. I see leaders bragging about teams where nobody ever raises their voice, where meetings wrap up with everyone nodding along, and where disagreements are rare. Some even think their team is “psychologically safe” because nobody ever argues.
Team Dynamics, Leadership, Software Development, Workplace Culture
80 points by dotmanish 14 days ago | 64 comments
Stop reading texts in meetings, JP Morgan boss tells staff (thetimes.com)
Workplace Culture, Technology, Business, Leadership
3 points by petethomas 18 days ago | 1 comments
In Severance, Office Perks Couldn't Be More Sinister (theoffcut.substack.com)
There's no such thing as a free (work) lunch.
Television, Workplace Culture, Dystopian Fiction
56 points by nickcotter 53 days ago | 69 comments
"At Our Companies, Employees Just Disappear" (slate.com)
Few people are as knee-deep in our work-related anxieties and sticky office politics as Alison Green, who has been fielding workplace questions for a decade now on her website Ask a Manager. In Direct Report, she spotlights themes from her inbox that help explain the modern workplace and how we could be navigating it better.
Workplace Culture, Management, Human Resources, Work-Life Balance
24 points by tekdude 61 days ago | 4 comments
Techie pointed out meetings are pointless, and was punished for it (theregister.com)
When asked to offer honest feedback, maybe pause to ponder how well you play office politics
Workplace Culture, Feedback, Technology
44 points by rntn 68 days ago | 49 comments
It's a knowledge problem Or is it? (josvisser.substack.com)
Many years ago, Google apparently decided that the engineers in the Zürich office were getting too fat so they hired a nutritionist.
Google, Knowledge Management, Workplace Culture
53 points by 0xKelsey 73 days ago | 17 comments
The Gervais Principle (ribbonfarm.com)
Social Dynamics, Workplace Culture
8 points by thunderbong 79 days ago | 2 comments
The Cost of Being Invisible: Dis-Inclusion's Toll on Neurodivergent Employees (workdesign.com)
Imagine walking into a workplace every day where you feel unseen, not because you lack talent, drive or value, but because the environment isn’t designed with you in mind.
Neurodiversity, Workplace Culture, Inclusion, Accessibility
23 points by MilnerRoute 86 days ago | 11 comments
Most workers (75%) end up leaving before ever being promoted (fortune.com)
Employees who don't feel that they're advancing in their careers are more likely to leave.
Employee Retention, Career Advancement, Workplace Culture
5 points by rustoo 88 days ago | 1 comments
Quiet Quitting: Why Employees Are Demanding Fairness and Boundaries (forbes.com)
The response to my recent article on why soft quitting at work could be more dangerous than quiet quitting has been overwhelming. Readers passionately shared their thoughts, frustrations, and personal experiences, sparking a crucial conversation about what quiet quitting really means for employees and organizations. Many agreed that the term misrepresents what is often a rational response to systemic issues in the workplace.
Workplace Culture, Employment, Burnout, Fairness, Work-Life Balance
78 points by rustoo 89 days ago | 101 comments
Zuckerberg thinks workplaces need to 'man up' − why that's bad for all employees (theconversation.com)
When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on a Jan. 10, 2025, episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” he lamented that corporate culture had become too “feminine,” suppressing its “masculine energy” and abandoning supposedly valuable traits such as aggression.
Workplace Culture, Gender, Business Leadership, Social Commentary
6 points by rntn 93 days ago | 1 comments
U.S. Employee Engagement Sinks to 10-Year Low (gallup.com)
Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, with only 31% of employees engaged.
Employee Engagement, Workplace Culture, U.S. Economy, Gallup
42 points by jmsflknr 102 days ago | 99 comments
Employees are bypassing HR, sharing on LinkedIn (businessinsider.com)
Fed up with company processes, people are reporting their horrible bosses on social media
Human Resources, Social Media, Workplace Culture, LinkedIn
105 points by this_weekend 104 days ago | 98 comments
We moved to the old Sun campus, I noticed the towel dispensers had a delay timer (twitter.com)
Technology, Social Media, Observations, Workplace Culture
13 points by tosh 105 days ago | 3 comments
"Oh shit, my career " shouted one of the interns (seatsafetyswitch.com)
“Oh shit, my career!” shouted one of the interns in the bullpen when it becomes obvious immediately what had happened. Yes, Justin. You had now learned a new and uncomfortable truth about working for the Man, and your working life will never be the same again. And it all started because he didn’t follow the mandatory security training that every employee needs to click through while half-paying attention.
Cybersecurity, Workplace Culture, Work-Life Balance, Employee Training
26 points by pavel_lishin 116 days ago | 1 comments
The Power of Small Acts of Inclusion (hbr.org)
It matters when employees have a strong sense of belonging, or feel like they fit at a company: They’re more engaged, innovative, and productive.
Workplace Culture, Employee Engagement
8 points by kiyanwang 123 days ago | 3 comments
Out-of-office emails are getting a refresh – employees set work-life boundaries (cbc.ca)
Rather than a copy-and-paste message, employees have given the humble out-of-office reply a revamp.
Work-Life Balance, Email, Workplace Culture
8 points by Bluestein 126 days ago | 0 comments
Startup Conducts Survey on Stress Among Employees, Fires Those Who Were Stressed (officechai.com)
Indian companies have been laying off employees in large numbers over the last few quarters, but they seem to be getting increasingly creative in finding out which employees to let go.
Layoffs, Workplace Culture, India, Artificial Intelligence, Business
5 points by MattGrommes 138 days ago | 2 comments
Grifters, Believers, Grinders, and Coasters (seangoedecke.com)
Why do engineers get mad at each other so often?
Engineering, Workplace Culture, Communication
14 points by rbanffy 144 days ago | 3 comments
A Viral Google Doc Experiment During Google Layoffs (le-brun.eu)
January 2023 was a chaotic month inside Google. Without warning, the company announced 12,000 layoffs—roughly 6% of its global workforce. Panic set in as employees woke up to find their access suddenly revoked. There were stories of people discovering their fate while on parental leave, others mid-project, or even while on-call. Overnight, the atmosphere shifted from business-as-usual to fear and uncertainty.
Google, Layoffs, Workplace Culture, Social Media, Business
7 points by laurentlb 161 days ago | 0 comments
Ask HN: What is it with this hate and disdain for interns/junior engineers? (ycombinator.com)
Some examples of this that I have seen so often:<p>No openings for interns or junior engineers, yet the companies and people I talk with, the senior engineers get sick often, lack drive and take longer PTO and their work isn't really that adequate.<p>Blaming interns or junior engineers for simple mistakes, which the senior which also should have seen.<p>Not training interns or junior engineers to become senior and be given more responsibility, I'm assuming we are all aware of the bus
Software Engineering, Workplace Culture, Hiring Practices, Internships
23 points by colesantiago 196 days ago | 43 comments
Executives and Research Disagree About Hybrid Work. Why? (nytimes.com)
Amazon’s C.E.O., Andy Jassy, made waves last month when he demanded that all employees return to the office five days a week.
Hybrid Work, Workplace Culture, Business, Leadership, Technology
43 points by ctoth 196 days ago | 73 comments
Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan (entrepreneur.com)
Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan, according to company leaders.
Google, Workplace Culture, Remote Work
281 points by christhecaribou 205 days ago | 290 comments
Remote Work Was to Reshape the Political and Social Landscape. What Happened? (joanwestenberg.com)
The remote work experiment proved we don’t need to be in an office to succeed—so why are we still being dragged back to our desks?
Remote Work, Workplace Culture, Social Change, Politics
6 points by cratermoon 208 days ago | 0 comments
91% of polled Amazon staff unhappy with RTO, 3-in-4 want to jump ship (theregister.com)
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy last week sent a memo to staff informing them everyone is now expected in the office five days a week from the start of next year, and a poll of staff suggests this hasn't gone down well.
Amazon, Remote Work, Workplace Culture
66 points by taubek 212 days ago | 66 comments
Most Amazon workers considering job hunting due to 5-day in-office policy: Poll (arstechnica.com)
An overwhelming majority of Amazon employees are “dissatisfied” with Amazon killing remote work and requiring them to be in the office five days a week next year.
Remote Work, Amazon, Workplace Culture, Employee Satisfaction
6 points by dangle1 212 days ago | 0 comments
Conscious unbossing: why Gen Z are refusing to become managers (theguardian.com)
Research has found more than half of British young professionals do not want to take on a middle-management position. And who can blame them?
Management, Generation Z, Workplace Culture, Research, Career
5 points by n1b0m 213 days ago | 1 comments
The war on remote work has nothing to do with productivity (the-sentinel-intelligence.com)
Every year, CEOs demand more employees return to the office. Mainstream news outlets run stories calling remote workers lazy.
Remote Work, Productivity, Workplace Culture
275 points by kruuuder 215 days ago | 289 comments
Ask HN: How do you feel about the 'Do you have a best friend at work' question? (ycombinator.com)
Gallop has one of the best-known employee engagement surveys, known as the Q12. It asks 12 questions, and one of them is, "Do you have a best friend at work?"
Workplace Culture, Employee Engagement, Surveys, Human Resources
16 points by jawns 216 days ago | 25 comments