Great Perks and Pay, but Favoritism and HR Issues at Stripe - Marketing Stripe Employee Review

-At non-HQ locations, there’s a role called "Site Lead," which is meant to boost employee morale and lead new initiatives at the site. People who aim for or nominate themselves for this role are really just trying to stand out and get promoted. But in Stripe, promotions often come down to favoritism. In sales, sure, you need to hit your numbers, but for other roles, it’s all about getting on your manager’s good side—sometimes that even involves sending gifts or souvenirs. Seeing this every day makes you wonder what you're really working for. -When it comes to sales, it's all about the numbers. Managers only care about employees who deliver results, and those who don’t are often pushed to quit. I’m not in sales, but I’ve seen several employees get fired for not hitting their targets. HR barely functions—they're aligned with managers and higher-ups, not with employees. Even if you approach HR for help, they just report everything back to your manager. -They also decided to move from fully remote work to requiring 50% office attendance. They tested it in three locations, like Seattle, before rolling it out company-wide. I have no idea what they were actually testing, but it feels like Stripe is just copying Google, Meta, and other Silicon Valley giants. There’s no original thinking or innovation. The belief that in-office employees perform better is just because they have more face time with managers, which creates emotional attachment. They’re not actually measuring real performance.