[wannabe_miner]

Unrelated but related, what is it like to work at Yelp?

I was recently contacted by them for a position but it didn't inspire confidence. The mention of a "shoestring operation" in this article is making me believe I made the right choice.

[jrheard]

I worked there as a software engineer for six years, first in SF, then remotely in Oregon. I loved it. The people are brilliant and friendly, the codebase and tooling are top-notch. If you're a programmer, it's a great place to work.

[mcguire]

Isn't Yelp the company that hosts reviews of local businesses while at the same time getting paid for advertising by those businesses?

[Buge]

Same with Google right?

[bhldr]

As an engineer, it's actually a pretty great employer. I enjoy working there and there's lots of folks who've been there for many years.

[gdilla]

That was only in reference to their lobbying "office" in washington DC (no formal office, just a seat in a coworking place).

[home_boi]

They lowball you (or rather, their stock performance is garbage and they won't adjust RSUs to account for that).

Their SF headquarters is a standard silicon valley playground. I'm not sure why the author tried to differentiate Yelp from regular SF/Silicon Valley companies by only mentioning its drab satellite office

[JCzynski]

Not good. The codebase is a terrible monolith using frameworks long-dead everywhere else, there's poor coordination.

[x0x0]

It depends on position. They treat CSRs like absolute shit -- see Talia Jane. Given a choice, I'd prefer not to work for companies that treat any employee like that.

[scurvy]

Curious, but is there any company that treats CSR's really well and have a 85%+ employee satisfaction?

I've worked at a lot of great companies, and the CSR groups are always unhappy and have miserable employee satisfaction ratings. I also started my career in customer service, so I've seen good and bad firsthand.

[jimmywanger]

I believe Zappos treats its CSRs fairly well, considering they are considered the backbone of the company.

However, this is secondhand, gleaned from several books and articles I've read.

[jimmywanger]

I've read her article. (https://medium.com/@taliajane/an-open-letter-to-my-ceo-fb73d...)

It really has nothing substantive to say except "I'm struggling, pay me more."

She even points to several facts in her article.

"She ended up leaving the company and moving east, somewhere the minimum wage could double as a living wage."

"But boy did I not anticipate a decade and a half ago that a car and a credit card and an apartment would all be symbols of stress, not success."

If you hate the job that badly or feel like you're not being renumerated properly, you have options open. I'm assuming she doesn't have a house, because of the mention of her apartment.

Yelp is not holding a gun to your head. Neither are they responsible for paying you what you think is necessary for a comfortable life.

[x0x0]

If you want to support a company that pays employees $12.50/hour in sf, that's your choice. However, I don't support that, and the thing about employment at will is we can use how a potential employer treats employees to evaluate the employer.

> Neither are they responsible for paying you what you think is necessary for a comfortable life.

However, kindly don't misrepresent the contents of Talia's article and shift the goalposts from "comfortable life" to "remain housed and eat (and even see a doctor when necessary)." Because she's asking for the bare minimums, not a comfortable life.

[manigandham]

> However, I don't support that

No company cares because that's not how it works. Companies pay what the job is worth, then increase as needed if talent isn't available. Minimum wage work that anyone can do is not worth anything beyond that wage, regardless of where someone lives.

> she's asking for the bare minimums

No she's not. The job is worth a certain amount and deciding to accept and live with that is up to you. She was completely irresponsible by moving to an expensive area, getting a min. wage job and living beyond her means. 100% her fault. Then writing a strange article playing victim and calling out the CEO while including links to donate to her paypal account is about as ridiculous as it gets.

[jimmywanger]

> However, kindly don't misrepresent the contents of Talia's article and shift the goalposts

I have not misrepresented anything. Please point me to an instance in my comment where I have.

In addition, I'm not shifting the goalposts. She said herself that she had a car, an apartment, residence in the US, credit cards, and a college degree, and she wants more. I believe she already has the bare minimums, as she would be considered incredibly wealthy by about 80% of the world.

> Because she's asking for the bare minimums, not a comfortable life.

As I pointed out earlier, she wants a comfortable life. More importantly, in her article, she has not pointed out any negotiations she's done with her employer to ask for a raise. She is simply demanding more money, for no good reason whatsover. If you cannot demonstrate and communicate the value you're adding to the company as well as your willingness to leave, why would the company give you more money?

Also, this article seems like emotional blackmail that plays into the current zeitgeist of "tech is bad, you should give more money away". If she gave compelling value add arguments, she'd definitely get paid more. Right now she's only presenting her wants and needs - the company doesn't care.

[skinnymuch]

First comment on your first comments page I agree with.