Zero support from leadership: Managers seem detached and often acted unpredictably. Communication was vague or last-minute, and I frequently felt like I was walking blind into deadlines that were decided before anyone consulted the dev team. Asking for clarity often led to silence or passive-aggressive responses.
No growth, no recognition: You do what you're told — and that’s it. No feedback, no appreciation, and certainly no development plan. Promotions or learning opportunities? Never saw any. It felt like a dead end after just a few months.
Toxic behavior normalized: There was a culture of favoritism and condescension, especially toward newer employees. Mistakes weren’t treated as learning opportunities — they were met with blame. I saw people getting publicly criticized for issues that were never clearly explained to them in the first place. It broke morale fast.
HR was unhelpful: There were multiple occasions where HR had the chance to mediate or support people — and they just didn’t. Complaints vanished, and it became clear that their loyalty was with upper management, not with the staff suffering on the ground.
Psychological toll: I began to dread opening my laptop each morning. I lost sleep over small errors that should’ve been minor but were blown out of proportion. The stress built up slowly, but by the time I left, it felt like I had nothing left in the tank. Several colleagues quietly quit for the same reason.
