
Ask HN: Should I quit Uber? - engatuber
I&#x27;m a software engineer at Uber.  I&#x27;ve been there for under a year.  I left my previous job because an Uber recruiter offered a large pay increase.  I had been there for under a year as well.<p>Is it worse to have the job hopping on my resume or a very unpopular company on there?<p>Staying for a while wouldn&#x27;t be hard on me.  My team and the ones around me aren&#x27;t toxic (yet).  I&#x27;m strictly concerned with the impact on my career.
======
brandon272
I've never heard of a company not hiring a qualified developer because their
former employer is "unpopular". Job hopping from company to company based on
popularity just seems like a bad career move.

It sounds like you're happy with the work environment, which is not something
that should be taken for granted. Stay on board and continue to put in your
best effort.

~~~
engatuber
Maybe I'm overreacting to comments on HN and other social media. The CEO of a
successful startup publicly said he wouldn't hire someone from Uber.

Many HN comments on articles about Uber share the same opinion. Several of
these commenters were founders of software companies.

~~~
DINKDINK
>The CEO of a successful startup publicly said he wouldn't hire someone from
Uber

Would you really want to work at a company where a CEO is so prejudicial? I
know I wouldn't (and I find the publicized culture of Uber incredibly
repugnant).

If you're happy at your current position and aren't complicit in the abuse
that's going on (seeing abuse but not doing anything about it) then stay. If
you're concerned that in a subsequent interview that your position will color
you, volunteer for a noble cause:

-Encouraging young women to pursue STEM education / careers

-Domestic Abuse NGO etc

~~~
brudgers
A CEO might prejudge a person coming from one company to another based on
perceived risk to workplace culture the same as when assessing someone just
out of school or coming from or into enterprise or out of military service or
out of prison or back to the workforce from raising a family or when switching
vocations or with gray hair or lip piercings.

Of course it could also be based on direct empirical observation, or just
liking to hear the sounds of one's own tweets. On the other hand, the would-
you-want-to-work-at-a-company-where position probably falls flat in the case
of Uber...it already ate the cake.

~~~
panarky
Fact: Uber has a well earned reputation for tolerating or even encouraging a
work environment that is hostile toward women.

Fact: If you're a male Uber employee, you're somewhat tainted by this
association. Maybe just a little, or maybe more.

Conclusion: If you're competing against another candidate who is identical in
all other respects except they don't have this association, you're at a
disadvantage.

It's not fair to you, but that's the inescapable conclusion.

The bigger question is, do you believe that Uber is ultimately a force for
good?

In addition to your salary and benefits, is it important to you that your
efforts contribute to making the world a little bit better?

~~~
taway_1212
> Conclusion: If you're competing against another candidate who is identical
> in all other respects except they don't have this association, you're at a
> disadvantage.

How many hiring managers actually care about this? I know it's PC to say that
you care, but I doubt it would affect the actual decisions of many managers.

------
joss82
The impact on your career should not be much.

As an employer, I would not turn down any ex-Uber, as long as he or she did
not trigger warning lights during the interviews.

Just focus on the technichal side and the money. If you feel good every
morning when you wake up to go working for them, then stay.

If not, then that would make a great explanation to your next employer for
him/her not to consider you a job hopper. Along the lines of "I quit at Uber
because, as you very well know, the culture there was toxic and yours looks
much more interesting, blah blah...".

Good luck!

~~~
engatuber
Thanks!

As long as I stayed with that employer for longer than a year I would be fine,
or would the period of job-hopping look bad permanently?

~~~
cardine
I'm going to disagree with a lot of the other responses you are receiving.

If it happens once or twice and there is a good story/explanation that goes
along with it that is fine, but I actively avoid candidates who switch jobs
every year or so. In my opinion it takes a decent amount of time to understand
everything within any given company or codebase (especially one that has a
decent level of complexity or specialized knowledge). I don't want an unstable
environment where people are leaving just as they begin to fully understand
things to the point where they are extremely productive.

Along those same lines I think it is the responsibility of an employer to give
raises that are equivalent to the salaries they would pay to poach people with
a similar level of experience. If you are willing to give someone a
significant raise to leave their current company you should be willing to do
that for someone within your own company.

~~~
toomuchtodo
> Along those same lines I think it is the responsibility of an employer to
> give raises that are equivalent to the salaries they would pay to poach
> people with a similar level of experience. If you are willing to give
> someone a significant raise to leave their current company you should be
> willing to do that for someone within your own company.

What would you say is a reasonable amount of time for an employee to stick
around if an employer isn't providing pay increases?

~~~
scarface74
_What would you say is a reasonable amount of time for an employee to stick
around if an employer isn 't providing pay increases?_

Two years. If you came in at market value, the median market value shouldn't
increase that much. Two years is also about the time to get enough experience
to "level up"

~~~
toomuchtodo
Appreciate it!

------
NumberCruncher
A bunch of people here on HN are / were working for the defense industry. A
lot of social networks we ought to trust our private data on were founded by
them. I never heared them complaining about not getting a job because they
used to violate the privacy rights of humanity or developed the software for
drones being used for killing people. Don't be afraid, a lot of companies need
mercenaries with broken moral compass.

[Edit] I am working for a company doing "legal spamming" -according to German
law. It is kind of useless shit the world would be better off without but the
work makes fun and pays the bills. Is Uber hiring in Germany?

~~~
oxryly1
Harsh but true. I'd go even further and say to be successful in tech, finance,
etc, by all means keep your moral compass in good working order, just leave it
at home.

~~~
gurkendoktor
Good techies can absolutely afford a moral compass. You might lose your chance
to be the next Zuck, but that's highly unlikely either way.

------
throwaway0221
I left a Fortune-100 company recently, in part because I wasn't happy with the
ethical choices being made by management. I was being asked to implement
software that I didn't want to be part of.

I had management assure me that legal had been consulted, and don't worry,
they say it's not technically illegal. If the media finds out and we get bad
press, PR has already made plans for how they'll respond to it. The responses
they gave me really made me lose respect for the managers above that.

Uber is (imho) a morally bankrupt company- even by the standards of companies.
The question you should ask yourself isn't whether that will look bad on your
resume, but whether you're going to live regretting you were part of it.

I make a bit less money overall now. I also sleep a lot better at night.

------
curun1r
I wouldn't worry about what it looks like to leave Uber at the moment. Job
hopping is bad when it is unexplained. There's not a tech company in the
valley that would fault you for leaving Uber in solidarity or because you
didn't realize the extent of the sexism until the story broke. Companies view
job hopping as a negative because they worry you'll move on and not stick with
them if things get tough. But there's certain varieties of tough that don't
fall into that category and the kinds of allegations that are being made
against Uber right now (HR complicit in sexual harassment) are at the top of
that list of exceptions. I might worry about how it looks to have stayed at
Uber, since it might seem like tacit support.

As an aside, the Otto scandal might even be enough reason to want to leave.
It's now far less likely that your stock options will ever amount to anything.
But leaving for this reason won't be as widely respected, so don't mention it
to recruiters.

------
amorphid
I was a technical recruiter for startups in SF from 2005 to 2013. I filled
hundreds of startup jobs. I wouldn't worry about it. Good engineers are always
in demand, so if you're good, you'll be fine. Even if Uber is evil, and Lyft
is good, I bet Lyft would hire you.

The thing that will prevent you from being hired, even if you are good, is not
owning the fact that you chose to stay at Uber. If you're 100% okay with
staying Uber, and you're only worried about perception, I'd say don't about
what other people will think. But if you're ashamed to don your Uber hoodie in
public and/or you cringe to answer the question "where do you work?", that's
harder for you. That may have more to do with how you feel about it, and less
to do with what other people will think.

Imagine this... You're the hiring manager for a startup that needs a darn good
engineer. Someone applies to your company, and their two previous employers
were Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder. You've previously interviewed
candidates from both companies. If those candidates had been amazing, then you
will do anything you can to get that applicant in the door for an interview.
If the applicants all bombed, you'll be likely to think the engineering talent
at AM and AFF wasn't any good. Neither situation have anything to do with the
fact that both companies were adult-oriented websites, which carries some
social stigma with it. The AM/AFF applicant might have a tough time getting a
job at Eharmony because of their personal values as a Christian-friendly
website.

------
GauntletWizard
I just left Uber after only six months. It was the best decision I ever made.
I'd also been bouncing around the bay - A year at my previous company, merely
nine months at the one before that.

My reasons for leaving Uber were simple - My team was toxic. You're not having
this problem... or maybe you are and don't realize it. Much of what made it so
toxic felt like my failures - Inability to understand the deployment strategy,
things moving faster than I could keep up, objectives changing/not well
documented.

After a while, I realized that the whole organization was engaged in
gaslighting. We were always at war with Eurasia. My manager changed OKRs
middle of the quarter. Decisions that I had written agreement on were
questioned in the next meeting. Changes were made based on people's personal
preferences, without regard for negative effects on others or the moving
targets they presented. Coworkers were being cagey about giving advice or
plans because they wanted to be 'the hero' and solve problems that I was
trying to fix, or they didn't want to admit mistakes, or...

Anyway. I suggest you move on. But it may be worth sticking around for your
bonus/stock options. On the other hand - People are going to be willing to
give you the benefit of the doubt if you're getting out of Uber now. In six
months, it will be a real black mark.

------
hasbroslasher
Don't quit necessarily, but quit if you feel it's the right thing to do. I've
never thought highly of Uber, so having it on your resume is similar to having
military experience or working at Amazon to me, it immediately sounds the
"probably not a good culture fit" alarm in my head.

I'd personally give a thumbs up to any qualified engineer interviewed with me
and mentioned that a big part of the reason he or she left Uber was because of
their lack of morals. That takes balls, and so does leaving before the
"standard" two year mark, so people who do that are either stupid and ballsy
or principled and ballsy - the latter type of person is almost always a great
person to work with as long as their principles make sense. There's nothing
worse than a principled, ballsy Machiavellian.

So, to reiterate - quit if it really aligns with your principles as a person
and you're ready to explain that, stay otherwise. It could also be that in 6
months staying at Uber will be against your principles, making that a great
time to jump ship. I think the advantage you have is that since a lot people
know Uber is toxic they won't fault you for wanting to get out.

------
YuriNiyazov
You know, in the 90s, Microsoft was considered to be a deeply unethical
company. Would anyone now consider Microsoft on someone's resume to be a black
mark?

~~~
engatuber
Did Microsoft have a reputation for sexual harassment and toxic managers? I
don't know much about Microsoft in the 90s.

~~~
noir_lord
No, Microsoft has generally (I'm sure at the size they are they have had some
issues) never had major problems like that.

Their reputation was more around 3E's (Embrace, Extend, Extinguish), they
didn't play well with others (intentionally).

~~~
brudgers
My perception is that Uber does not enjoy a PR bonanza based upon its ability
to work with others.

------
brudgers
Random advice from the internet:

Should you quit? Probably not. Should you be exploring other options?
Maybe...and that's mostly orthogonal to being employed at Uber but not
entirely. Personally, I don't think it is likely that Uber is going to
significantly change its culture based upon its responses (they look like
hunkering down and lawyering up).

Now in terms of 'strictly concerned with the impact on my career' that looks
like a moral/ethical the-ends-justify-the-means-approach. Here, there are two
relevant factors. One is that there is very little certainty regarding how job
hopping or staying at Uber will effect your career. The other is that there is
a near certainty that people will judge your decision on moral/ethical grounds
and that some will judge it as being reflection of a character that is ok with
Uber's culture as described by recent events.

When hiring includes consideration of 'cultural fit' time spent at Uber will
weigh into those considerations as a risk for companies with an orthogonal
culture. Since the longer someone spends in a culture the more likely a person
is to become acculturated, the duration of one's 'post-Fowler' employment
might be considered when assessing the 'cultural fit' risk/benefit of previous
experience at Uber.

I am not pretending that I know what will help or hurt your career: careers
vary on an individual basis. I am pretending that what you do or don't do is a
choice about who you are. The internet is not going to give you permission for
either choice.

Good luck

------
sushobhan
I can't see any good reason why you need to switch, your team mates are not
'toxic' and I believe pay is also fine. So why you want to switch? I agree
sometime we need to switch for better carrier growth but when going to a new
environment, there are chances that you have to adjust. Transitions phase in
most cases are difficult. One last advice, don't switch only for money, job is
and should be much more than that.

------
notadoc
If you don't like the job, the culture, the company, the taste of the free
coffee, the commute, the whatever, find a different one. You're fortunate to
be employed in a field where job hopping generally does not matter due to high
demand.

Aside from the outrage/noise you read on the internet, I don't think is much
or any stigma associated with working at any particular company.

------
code4tee
People are "tainted" to an extent that future employers/recruiters can be
worried that you'll bring Uber culture with you. People can debate how much
that happens and if it's valid/fair etc but it does happen.

Uber's brand has become toxic not just on the commercial side but within the
tech industry to an extent too and things happen as a result of that.

------
askafriend
One thing I haven't seen people mention is that you're leaving a lot of money
on the table by staying less than a year at each of these places where a large
part of the compensation is in stock. Why not stick it out for a full year
until the cliff, get your options or RSUs and then switch if you must?

Just something to think about.

------
rgrove
Yes, quit.

Do it because it's the right thing to do, not because you're worried about
having Uber on your resume.

But since you say you're strictly concerned about the impact on your career, I
can tell you that seeing Uber on a resume beyond March 2017 would be an
instant red flag for me. I wouldn't bother phone screening that person.

Plenty of companies won't care though, so if you just like money and don't
have qualms about your employer's rapidly growing list of unethical
activities, then by all means stay.

~~~
djrogers
> I can tell you that seeing Uber on a resume beyond March 2017 would be an
> instant red flag for me.

That's insane - you think everyone at Uber can afford (both literally and
metaphorically) to simply quit their jobs without a landing place?

The flip side of this is that I would be happy to avoid working for someone
who's so easily prejudiced against someone before ever meeting them. That kind
of social bigotry is also very toxic...

~~~
rgrove
> That's insane - you think everyone at Uber can afford (both literally and
> metaphorically) to simply quit their jobs without a landing place?

Uber's unethical behavior didn't start recently, but it has recently reached a
point where I don't think anyone at the company can still claim plausible
deniability. If you're still at Uber, you've had a lot of time to think about
this stuff.

> The flip side of this is that I would be happy to avoid working for someone
> who's so easily prejudiced against someone before ever meeting them. That
> kind of social bigotry is also very toxic...

I wouldn't consider hiring someone who I suspected of being involved in theft
of trade secrets, knowingly violating laws, or knowingly evading oversight,
because those are behaviors I don't condone and would not tolerate at my
company.

I can't say for certain that anyone who works at Uber beyond March 2017 is
involved in unethical activity, but I can say for certain that anyone who
works at Uber beyond March 2017 either knows that they're working for a
company with a long history of unethical activity or is completely oblivious,
and both of those things tell me this is a person I may not be able to trust
to make good decisions at my company.

I also discard resumes that show a lack of relevant technical expertise,
because that's another indicator that a person may not be able to make good
decisions at my company.

I'm not interested in hiring robots without pity, remorse, or fear. I'm
interested in hiring humans with empathy and good conscience and a capacity to
do the right thing even when it's not easy, because those are values I want my
company to have.

------
alistairSH
From the tone of your post, I take it you're young and just starting your
career. A few short jobs shouldn't be a red flag at this point in your career,
especially if you have a reasonable reason for leaving previous positions (and
company culture at Uber certainly qualifies).

As for having a known toxic company on your resume, that should only be a red
flag if you were in a position to alter that toxic environment (senior
manager, HR roles, etc).

If I were in your shoes, I might be looking to move elsewhere. But, unless
you're unhappy, there's no need to hurry.

------
mumpy
I think much of the stigma on job hopping comes from it really having a lot of
advantages for a worker who is up for it (it gets progressively harder to deal
with the first 6 months in a new job the longer you are stably employed and
the more specialized you get.)

If I felt I had an external justification to explain a hop and I had doubts
about my employer, I would look immediately for a job filtering for ones that
I would actually want to keep for 3-4 years. If a new employer accepts you and
you actually stay a few years, I would consider a future employer that had an
issue with your resume rather odd. While sticking it out at an employer that
you feel uncertain about can leave you in a worse place with the wrong timing.

------
metaphorm
If your own work environment is a good one, then why would you leave? Don't
worry so much about reputation.

------
alain94040
This has happened before. Yahoo used to be a hot company to work for. Now, if
you still work there, people wonder why you haven't left yet. It is definitely
harder to get a job with Yahoo on your resume. Will the same thing happen to
Uber? It's possible. You won't feel it until the feeling is very strong, which
means it will be too late for you to move.

If you are concerned now, and can find a better offer that you are very
comfortable with, I'd say jump ship.

------
BlackjackCF
Quitting Uber on principle might be ok, but don't quit because you're worried
about being employable in the future. Loads of people will employ someone who
is ex-Uber, despite the negative press. Largely, the negative association is
with Uber management and execs, not its employees. I doubt you'd have trouble
finding a job down the line. If you like your job, don't quit! If you feel
guilt, just do what you can to try and shape the culture.

------
rdl
I think you'd be crazy to leave a team you like unless you have something
better. The "harm", if any, to your career for staying at Uber would be less
than the harm for being a "job hopper" and leaving in less than a year or two.

If you don't like your job, then look around. Maybe look around just to know
what the market is like. But don't leave something you enjoy purely because
you're afraid of what others will think on your resume.

------
gargravarr
Stay for the experience, if your personal morals are okay with it. Job hopping
is okay in moderation, if you're genuinely not a good fit for the company, but
sounds like you're doing okay work.

If it comes up in an interview, focus strictly on your work and how you
contributed your skills to the business.

Software engineers ought to be fine moving on from Uber. It'll be the high-
level execs who, rightly, will end up having trouble explaining their role in
Uber in an interview :)

------
aeturnum
I think that being at two jobs in a row for under a year is a little
concerning. I'd certainly ask questions about that in an interview.

That said, I think leaving Uber would be a significant advantage compared to
other companies. In most cases you need to convince your interviewer that the
previous company had poor culture without sounding bitter - but for Uber they
will probably already know how bad the culture can be.

------
mvpu
You shouldn't be worried about job hopping - you should be worried about your
own judgement and conviction. Do you really believe that Uber is a bad place
to work? And that the problems its facing cannot (or will not) be remediated?
You say your team is not toxic (yet). Do you think it will be?

The same media that's slamming Uber today slammed every successful company...
these armchair analysts, who haven't been through 0.01% of the struggles that
entrepreneurs go through, predicted that Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, Uber will all
go down. Now they're working overtime to paint Uber as a frat house with no
ethics.

Every company has issues. Some even as severe as recent Uber events w.r.t
harassment. But they fix it. They learn. They move on. Uber is not Travis, or
the CTO, or the few people that came to limelight for bad culture. Uber is
bigger than all of them.

Don't quit something because the press is saying bad things about it. Don't
run away from problems. Fix them. That's what engineers do.

------
crb7xm
Im surprised this is a serious question. I'll cut you some slack because I
realize that being a current employee at Uber must mean that every other
conversation in your life has to do with your company's morals.

The most important thing to realize right now is that your caught up in a news
cycle (albeit, a pretty bad one), but eventually the talks will quiet down and
it will be a thing of the past (not saying that there aren't serious issues at
Uber, but it won't get media coverage because people will be tired of it).

I agree with brandon272. No one has ever been disqualified from a job because
their former employer was unpopular in the media (unless there is a major
political statement that comes along with the employer i.e. marijuana
advocacy, NRA, etc).

Stay on board, keep doing the best you can, and most importantly, don't get
caught up in all the negative crap. Treat everyone else with respect and
support your female coworkers if they need you.

------
djb_hackernews
The fear of job hopping is overrated in tech. Especially if you are leaving
Uber, it'd actually make you look more attractive for actually having a
backbone and a conscience.

In a period of about 3 years I went through 4 jobs. I never once was asked or
told that my job hopping was a concern in any interviews (probably 50 all
together) or offers.

Interestingly the only time I got push back on my "job hopping" Was when I
left my first job that I was at for 3 years. I was being interviewed by my
potential manager and one of his reports. As the interview was wrapping up the
report piped up "How do we know you aren't just going to leave us in 3 years?"

The manager took control and smoothed that question over and I didn't have to
answer it but it was an obvious power play and I'm glad someone else was in
the room.

~~~
x1798DE
This may be true, but it's hard to get a sense of why you are or are not
getting hired / getting interviews from the _job-seeker 's_ perspective, since
you are not really privy to the decision-making process and can't really trust
that the reasons given for them not hiring you are the real reasons (generally
they don't owe you the truth and strategically it's often better not to say
anything or to give some mundane reasons).

I've been involved in a small number of interview processes from the hiring
perspective, and I've definitely seen some concern regarding job-hopping where
it could easily make the difference on a marginal candidate. That said, this
is only at one team in one company - and I was not involved in the initial
resume screens (where people with a _lot_ of job-hopping may have been
eliminated entirely before I ever saw them). Probably would be best to get a
broader perspective from people who have a lot more experience with hiring.

~~~
djb_hackernews
Indeed. I added my anecdote as a data point for arguments for being ready with
a good explanation as to why you've left your previous employers.

Either they care and they don't call you, or they don't care and they don't
ask.

In my experience the number of employers that don't care and don't ask are
sufficiently large enough to not be concerned about the former employer type,
especially for someone looking to get out of an uncomfortable employment
situation.

------
ebbv
If you're not upper level management I don't think having Uber on your resume
is gonna be a big black mark, unless it fits with an overall picture you give
off of being an asshole. If you seem like a nice person otherwise, I think
people will give you the benefit of the doubt, if you are just an engineer.

------
EduardoBautista
Ha. Silicon Valley can be really pathetic sometimes. As an employee, you
should really go with whoever pays you more. If employees of another company
want to shame you into accepting a lower wage why should you?

Silicon Valley is always talking about "changing the world" while building
pointless apps that will only exist for 5 years at most as they try to sell to
a bigger data mining company. All in the name of "being passionate about what
you do".

Fuck that. Starting a for profit business is mostly always about making money,
so as an employee you should try to get as much money as you can from them. If
you start a company and really believe you are changing the world or making
the world a better a place, then make it a non profit. Otherwise, get your
head out of your ass.

~~~
philliphaydon
I wouldn't work where I'm paid more unless I needed the money. I would rather
work with a great team that I get along with, and love the product I work
with.

~~~
EduardoBautista
All else being equal, would you reject an extra 20k?

All of the stuff you mentioned is still part of "compensation".

~~~
philliphaydon
When I lived in Australia, I did some contracting then decided to go back to
full time. I narrowed my choices down to 2 jobs, one at 120k, and one at 80k.

In the end I picked the 80k one because during the interview they asked me to
come in for the day and do a 'test' for a few hours, which was building a
small project, then I got to sit with a couple of the members of the team and
take them through it. I had a LOT of fun (more fun than I imagined) and
ultimately decided to go there.

One of the best jobs I've had.

Obviously between 2 great jobs then the 20k would be the tipping point. But
money isn't the sole reason I work. I love what I do for a living.

------
maxharris
This is crazy. I use Uber all the time and I think it's a great company. (Of
course, I don't approve of harassment/discrimination - but the people directly
involved are now gone, and people really should just calm down.)

Don't quit now - good jobs can be hard to get!

~~~
Arainach
On what basis do you claim that "the people directly involved are now gone"?
They fired an executive hired after most of the allegations took place, and in
one story the worst offending supervisor has left. There's no evidence that
the culture has changed, and the people that put that culture in place are
still there.

------
mydpy
I agree with general sentiment expressed by others; a reasonable next
opportunity shouldn't judge you because you worked for an unpopular company.

In fact, we're thinking the opposite: let's use this as an opportunity to hire
engineers in your position (and we're currently hiring).

------
eof
If you were in upper management then this would be a valid concern and you'd
be more or less to be forced to take a position on the moral standing of the
company.

However in your position no one could _reasonably_ hold it against you.
Perhaps it doesn't hurt to put out feelers though.

------
mcv
How much under a year? I've rarely stayed at the same company for more than 2
years, and haven't seen any objections to my job hopping. And if anyone asks
you why you left Uber, then toxic culture or not really believing in the
company's way of doing business, is an excellent reason.

But there are far more important reasons to stay or leave than fear for what
others think. Do you like it there? Are you learning? Can you look at yourself
in the mirror every morning for working there? If yes, then stay. If no, then
leave.

Of course the smart thing to do is to first look for another job, and only
then leave. That way you don't have to leave until you know it's safe to do
so.

------
weixiyen
Job hopping early on in your career to maximize your baseline salary won't
affect your career. What may affect your career is the opportunity cost of
picking the wrong company (esp Startups) if you had a choice, and the one you
didn't pick takes off.

------
owebmaster
You can do some freelance or personal stuff too and then when you leave you
only so your personal projects during your time at uber, if it is really
better. Otherwise you can stay for a little longer and do a good harvest now
that everybody is leaving.

------
philliphaydon
If you are good at what you do, working at Uber won't affect your career in
the long run.

Are you happy? If yes then why leave? Leave if you're unhappy. Stay if you're
happy or you have a family and a mortgage and have a good salary to pay it
asap.

------
CyberFonic
You are a techie, not on the executive board. So the Uber taint does not apply
to you. As long as you are not required to implement some immoral program,
there is no reason to leave as a matter of principle.

As a potential employer I would be more concerned about you changing jobs with
less than a year at both previous jobs. Assuming you are not looking to take a
pay cut, you would have to be stellar technically to even be considered with
so little experience. Finally, I would consider you overly sensitive to
outside influences and question whether you would stay with a new employer
through thick and thin.

------
iblaine
As a former MySpace employee I can confirm that being at an unpopular company
is irrelevant. Employers are looking for increasing levels of responsibility,
among other things. Do your best and you will be ok.

------
stale2002
It depends. Do you like your job or are you trying to rationalize your
regrets?

If you are subconsciously trying to look for an excuse to leave, well now is
as good as any of a time to stop kidding yourself and get out of there.

------
mgkimsal
Unless you're at the level of decision making where you're participating in
the decisions that are creating the bad reputation around Uber, I don't think
you'll be held accountable for that.

------
hkmurakami
No. Even if the chance of someone excluding ex Uber engineers is extremely
high like 50% (which it's not), the Brand name is still valuable since Uber
was once one of the hardest places to get into.

~~~
sundaeofshock
The brand name has clearly taken a hit, otherwise we wouldn't be having this
conversation.

~~~
hkmurakami
Brand name in terms of engineering ability, the interview barometer during the
years OP interviewed? Nothing in the press suggests this has changed. (I'd
hesitate regarding senior management types more than ground level engineers --
kind of like Zynga tbh with great ground level engineers and PMs, but pretty
questionable upper brass)

Zenefits sales guys don't have a problem landing their next sales role, though
you might do a sanity check for cultural values just in case.

------
onuralp
Apparently, they have managed to recruit Zoubin Ghahramani [to lead their
machine learning efforts] despite the recent mess. While this particular
recruitment may not be representative of the broader reception of Uber
employees in the job market, choosing to stay at Uber for _professional
reasons_ does not seem to be a bad idea.

Uber appoints Zoubin Ghahramani as chief scientist:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13876497](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13876497)

------
Spooky23
Don't overreact. It's easy to have Internet commando types give all sorts of
bad advice.

Take a look around, but don't do anything drastic out of an emotional
reaction.

------
segmondy
Lots of people at Theranos stood around and watched it burn, plenty stained
their career by association. Forget the pay, what do you feel as a person
about Uber (not just your team) but Uber the company? Feel good? stay, feel
bad? listen to your gut and get out.

------
bythckr
Are you being harassed or discriminated against? Are you learning something in
terms of career?

There are idiots everywhere. I don't see Americans running out of American as
they are ruled by idiots, lead by a pussy grabber.

Uber is an innovative company. Stick around.

------
losteverything
Pretend you have golden handcuffs.

Stay as long as you can for being overpaid.

Imo at some point years from now the large $$$$ won't be there any more.

Bottom line. Most of us work for someone else. No matter what we do.

------
purplejacket
Uber is up there with Monsanto, and circa 2000 Microsoft in terms of nasty. I
wouldn't work there no matter how much they paid me.

------
saluki
Team/Environment seems ok, great pay,

Stick it out.

Save money, learn as much as you can, do interesting things at and outside of
work.

Plan what you want to do in the future.

------
dyeje
I definitely recommend staying for at least year, probably longer to offset
your previous job being shorter than a year.

------
dominotw
Yes Uber is toxic wasteland, definitely a big black mark on your resume. Quit
while you can!. Good luck.

------
thehardsphere
Why exactly do you want to change jobs?

------
pottersbasilisk
No, unless you want too. I know a ton of non sv companies on the east coast
starved for any talent.

------
sauronlord
Anytime you pop the question of "Should I leave X?" That answer is always yes.
The question is when.

Plus everyone eventually leaves X, since they die. You don't have a plan for
immortality, do you?

------
jlebrech
at least round it up to a year or double it.

------
snickerbockers
I guess I'm a little out of the loop here, what has Uber done to become
unpopular? Last I checked they were Silicon Valley's favorite darling.

~~~
yhyoon12
There were several stories that broke over the last couple of weeks. It
started with Uber and the travel ban. I don't want to get too into it so you
can read about it here: ([https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/business/delete-
uber.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/business/delete-uber.html)).

Then there were several sexual harassment claims that were handled poorly.
They can be read here: ([https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-
instant&ion=1&e...](https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-
instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=susan+fowler&*),
[https://medium.com/@amyvertino/my-name-is-not-amy-i-am-an-
ub...](https://medium.com/@amyvertino/my-name-is-not-amy-i-am-an-uber-
survivor-c6d6541e632f#.pz1kvmlbc)).

Their SVP left because of similar claims against him at Google
([http://www.recode.net/2017/2/27/14745360/amit-singhal-
google...](http://www.recode.net/2017/2/27/14745360/amit-singhal-google-
uber)).

Their VP of product also left under similar circumstances
([http://www.recode.net/2017/3/3/14805384/uber-ed-baker-
resign...](http://www.recode.net/2017/3/3/14805384/uber-ed-baker-resigns-
travis-kalanick)).

Google is suing them over potential stolen IP (involves a former Google
employee leaving to start Otto, which Uber promptly acquired). This has still
yet to be settled but you can read about details here:
([https://danielcompton.net/2017/03/14/uber-
bombshell](https://danielcompton.net/2017/03/14/uber-bombshell)).

------
bradavogel
Yes, you should, come join other ex-uber folks at Mixmax. Mixmax.com/careers

~~~
engatuber
Not a bad idea ;)

------
zaro
Yes.

------
kyrre
why leave a good and high earning job? don't ruin your life. stay at uber.

------
WatchDog
I don't know why you would let HN's opinion on the integrity of the companies
leadership influence your decision to work there. The question seems
preposterous to me. If you are happy with the work you are doing and the way
your team conducts itself and you don't have a better offer on the table why
leave? It's not like uber is building a nuclear bomb. Unless you are high up
enough to influence any of the things that have come up in the bad press, why
would anyone look down on you for working there?

