Poor Work-Life Balance, ‘Somber Atmosphere’ Pull Facebook Down 6 Spots on Glassdoor’s List

On Dec 5, 2018

There’s little debate that Facebook had a tough year in 2018, but have all the crises faced by the social network taken their toll on the work-life balance for employees?

Job and recruiting site Glassdoor revealed that Facebook fell from the top spot on its Best Places to Work in 2018 list to No. 7 among Best Places to Work in 2019.

Work-life balance was a clear factor, as Glassdoor said Facebook’s 3.8 (out of five) rating in that category was its lowest, and it shared this quote from an employee at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.: “Work-life balance is terrible. Everyone in my team works outside regular hours, night and weekends. No one will explicitly say that you have to do this, but given the competitive culture, you pretty much put in extra hours.”

Work-life balance is not the only factor, however,

Salvador Rodriguez of CNBC reported that six former Facebook employees who left the social network over the past two years have been contacted by a rising number of ex-colleagues about job openings or references.

A former recruiter for Facebook told Rodriguez he has been contacted by over 30 current employees of the social network over the past year, including about 15 during the past two months.

An-ex engineer at the company told Rodriguez that rather than requesting a switch to a different team at Facebook, employees are looking to leave, saying, “This time around, far more people are immediately jumping instead of switching teams.”

And a former executive brought up the toxic climate created by recent events, telling Rodriguez, “There are new things coming out every day. It’s a quite somber atmosphere right now.”

Positive comments about working at Facebook that were shared with Glassdoor include:

“The challenges we face in the wake of press mentions and bad actors abusing our platform causes us to band together and focus in on fixing problems,” from an employee in media partnerships and employment brands based in San Francisco.
“I’ve never worked at a company that cares so much about its people. Taking care of yourself and working sustainably is part of the culture,” from a hardware engineer in Menlo Park.
“Honestly, as an employee of Facebook, you are pampered. They truly care about the well-being of their employees, and that is evident in the number of perks and benefits given,” from an employee based in Chicago.

And other negative comments included:

“Internal systems are less than desirable. Some departments need more doers, less management. Lots of overlap across business units causing inefficiencies and confusion,” from a sales operations employee based in New York.
“The company mission and values are incredibly admirable, but they have become increasingly difficult to implement as the company has grown,” from a software engineer based in Menlo Park.

Overall, Facebook slipped from a 4.6 overall rating and first place on the 2018 list to a 4.5 and seventh place on the new list.

The company has appeared on Glassdoor’s list nine times, also finishing first in 2011 and 2013.

Other findings from Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2019 report follow:

The 10 best places to work in 2019:

Zoom Video Communications (4.5)
In-N-Out Burger (4.5)
Procore Technologies (4.5)
Boston Consulting Group (4.5)
LinkedIn (4.5)
Facebook (4.5)
Google (4.4)
Lululemon (4.4)
Southwest Airlines (4.4)

The five best small and midsized companies to work in 2019:

Heap (4.9)
Horizon Innovations (4.9)
Silverline (4.9)
Marketing 360 (4.9)
Digital Prospectors (4.9)

The 29 technology companies to crack this year’s list are:

Zoom Video Communications (No. 2, 4.5)
Procore Technologies (No. 4, 4.5)
LinkedIn (No. 6, 4.5)
Facebook (No. 7, 4.5)
Google (No. 8, 4.4)
Salesforce (No. 11, 4.4)
HubSpot (No. 16, 4.4)
DocuSign (No. 17, 4.4)
Ultimate Software (No. 18, 4.4)
Paylocity (No. 20, 4.4)
Fast Enterprises (No. 26, 4.4)
SAP (No. 27, 4.4)
Adobe (No. 30, 4.4)
Compass (No. 32, 4.4)
Microsoft (No. 34, 4.4)
Nvidia (No. 36, 4.3)
Intuit (No. 38, 4.3)
TaskUs (No. 40, 4.3)
Cengage (No. 41, 4.3)
Kronos (No. 44, 4.3)
VMware (No. 51, 4.3)
AppDynamics (No. 58, 4.3)
Paycom (No. 62, 4.3)
Cisco Systems (No. 69, 4.3)
Apple (No. 71, 4.3)
NetApp (No. 82, 4.2)
HP (No. 87, 4.2)
Expedia Group (No. 92, 4.2)
World Wide Technology (No. 99, 4.2)

The top six industries on the list:

Technology (29 companies)
Healthcare (13)
Retail (eight)
Manufacturing (eight)
Consulting (five)
Finance (five)

And the top six metropolitan areas where companies on the list are headquartered:

San Francisco Bay area (23 companies)
New York (nine)
Boston (seven)
Los Angeles (six)
Dallas-Fort Worth (six)
Seattle (five)

Glassdoor, the No. 2 job site in the U.S., has more than 45 million reviews for over 830,000 companies, with more than 62 million unique users each month.

The company said 73 percent of employees on its site say they are “OK” or “satisfied” with their jobs and companies, resulting in an average company rating of 3.4 and an average CEO approval rating of 69 percent.

Glassdoor chief economist Andrew Chamberlain said in a release revealing the new report, “In today’s tight labor market, job seekers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to deciding where to work, and they want to know the inner workings of a company before accepting a new job. To help people find the best jobs and the best companies, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards recognize employers at the top of their game. For employers, we know that a satisfied and engaged workforce helps drive financial performance ). Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners are strategically investing in company culture, career growth opportunities and more, which also serves as a major recruiting advantage.”