

Ask HN: At which tech companies do employees act (and are treated like) adults? - AspiringAdult

I am being serious here (this is a throwaway account for obvious reasons).<p>I enjoy working in the tech industry. I like working with people, and get a kick out of creating and shipping products. But I am getting somewhat frustrated with the childish Valley work culture.<p>Unlimited snacks and tricycles at work are not selling points for me. I can feed and entertain myself just fine. I would simply like to work with people that get stuff done (efficiently) ... and then carry on with the rest of their lives. Less small talk, more productivity.<p>Are there tech companies in or near SF where this happens? It would be great to get a list going.
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danielam
I've always found this frustrating myself. I was never a fan of immaturity,
but I have absolutely no patience for it at my age (it's one reason I hated my
last company). The cultish character of some startups and tech companies also
creeps me out. In general, I guess an infantile workforce is easier to
manipulate than a group of mature adults. Or maybe there's something in the
free snacks...

My personal experience has been that companies that need tech (vs. tech
companies), as well as the older players, tend to have employees with a
greater level of average or at least apparent average maturity. The Peter Pan
syndrome you have in mind seems to be fairly unique to new tech, but not new
businesses in general. Maybe instead of working for a tech company, you should
consider working for a company that has a tech team instead.

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Someone1234
Pretty much anywhere that is an establish business.

An obvious example is Microsoft. But really take any software or technology
company that is more than a few years old and you don't find people acting
this way. It is just brand new startups or those who wish to pretend like they
were brand new startups that do.

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chrisBob
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who doesn't think "happy hour
with your coworkers every week" and "we all vacation together" is a perk.

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Blackthorn
I think you're a little confused, to be honest.

Having a lot of snacks lying around isn't the same thing as missing adulthood,
and not having a lot of snacks lying around is not an indicator of adulthood.
They're not correlated.

What you _actually_ want to look for is information on how you'll actually
_work_. What responsibility you have. Whether or not you're trusted to make
your own decisions. That sort of thing.

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AspiringAdult
Look, I get that. I don't credit roosters for sunrises either. Let's not go
down that road.

It's just not a selling point for me, and not appealing when used as such
("Come work here, we have great snacks.") Usually accompanied by claims of
"unlimited vacation" and "a fully decked out Macbook Pro." I understand that
these things can also exist in an environment where people are treated like
adults (e.g. given responsibility, trusted to do their work, given privacy and
space).

I would, of course, rather know more about the actual work environment. This
information is just hard to obtain unless you personally know someone at the
company - someone who is willing to talk candidly about it. Occasionally, a
company makes puts such values front and center (e.g. 37 Signals). I was
hoping to get more examples.

~~~
Blackthorn
I work at one of the valley's biggest companies. I am happy to talk candidly
to you about them. See my email address in profile.

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pain
If we are asking about culture from an innocent standpoint of maturity and
mapping, it ties directly to social issues we still hear categorically ignored
as minority issues and money issues.

If we want a stable culture we need to address the hierarchy of needs errors,
without numb economics and unchecked corporal pleasure, with enough pattern
recognition to pay serious attention to habits of terms of 'model, view, and
culture.'

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PebblesHD
As has been said by many here already, more established companies and
companies that need tech will generally have a more mature work force. I
suffered from the same problem and took (in my opinion) a safe alternative,
working in a bank development division managing the online properties and
apps. Its an established environment with professionals that are treated as
such.

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general_failure
Startups which separate life and work are hard to find. Especially very early
stage startups. This is why you should always get a bunch of stocks when you
join startups. Once the startup is doing well, they go the standard route of
hiring HR and business-y guys. That transition gets rid of most of the
tricycles (mostly because more space is needed to house the extra people...)

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mritun
Come and interview at Amazon.com. We have offices in CA too. The culture is
somewhat mixed, and there are places that keep things sane while respecting
most people's, um, peculiarities.

~~~
jd3
One of my senior friends will be working at Amazon full time after he
graduates this spring. He's one of our best & brightest. Amazon seems like a
great fit for him.

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phonon
Try companies that make high-end enterprise apps. Guidewire would be a good
choice near you.

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csixty4
I work remotely. I get to create exactly the kind of work environment I want.

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rapphil
I would say companies that deals with industrial stuff.

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imagination
any company funded without vc money fits your needs

