It was difficult for employees to speak up about their concerns.
One employee was fired the week after they brought up an ethical concern about a large customer deal. Many of my colleagues felt like they could not speak out about concerns, and if they did, their concerns were ignored or given non-answers. I saw this happen dozens of times.
Relatedly: Airtable hired a head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He did a great job while I was there and seems to continue to do a great job, but leadership seemed to think that these things are HIS job, instead of EVERYONE'S job. We paid lip service to this problem but our sourcing, practices, and demographics did not reflect a true commitment.
Airtable did not feel like a great place for traditional career advancement. I saw a number of hard-working people passed up for promotions and know a few people who left for this reason, among others.
Airtable's mission to democratize software creation is great, but leadership was doggedly focused on growth and not the mission. I was not the only employee who felt duped—excited to join a positive force, only to be disappointed by our true mission: to make money and increase shareholder value. Perhaps I naïvely assumed a for-profit business wouldn't respond to market incentives, but perhaps Airtable should not tout a righteous mission.
I tried to raise some of these concerns, but they were not addressed to my satisfaction, which ultimately led me to another job. I hope that this negative review will help Airtable improve, because I believe that it has the potential to be a great product.
