Yahoo News Inside Facebook: Whistleblowers lift the lid on what it’s like to work for 'cult-like' social media giant
A group of ex-Facebook employees have accused the company of having a ‘cult-like’ workplace culture in a damning new report.
According to more than 12 people who used to work for the social media giant, staff are compelled to feign happiness and dissent is discouraged by managers.
The CNBC report, that highlights claims from workers who left the company between late 2016 and the end of 2018, says that workers were forced to attend after-hours team building activities.
One former worker, who was going through a divorce at the time, said they were criticised by a manager for failing to show up for one event.
They said: said: ‘She definitely marked me down for not attending those team-building events, but I couldn’t attend because I was going through my own issues and needed work-life balance.’
One former manager said that he and his bosses were hit with a barrage of angry calls after he asked difficult questions about a company initiative during one meeting.
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The former employee said: ’I never felt it was an environment that truly encouraged ‘authentic self’ and encouraged real dissent because the times I personally did it, I always got calls.’
Anonymous peer reviews also force employees to force friendships with staff so that they avoid negative feedback.
As the feedback is anonymous, it cannot be challenged and a black mark is permanently left on record.
A manager who left Facebook in 2017 told CNBC: ‘It’s a little bit of a popularity contest.
‘You have invisible charges against you, and that figures mightily into your review.
’Your negative feedback can haunt you for all your days at Facebook.’
Facebook declined to comment to CNBC on the claim that its workplace is ‘cult-like,’ but said its employees are not forced to attend any after-hours events.
