Incompetent management and a political landmine - Data Engineer thomann.io Employee Review

* Smart and capable teammates * Remote-friendly and generally flexible working setup * Product domain is interesting and technically challenging

* Management communication often feels reactive rather than structured * Escalations can happen quickly instead of being handled constructively * Expectations are sometimes unclear, which creates unnecessary pressure * Workload can exceed role scope without recognition

People are generally nice, although you can see the exasperation when you talk to them, especially those who have been here for a long time.

They value The Process ™️ a lot. So much so that when you try to raise an issue about a new project management is trying to start, you get talked to like a bouncer telling a drunk person they can't enter the club anymore, even if what you're doing is telling the bouncer the club is on fire. You know those kinds of bouncers. The public handbook about psychological safety is cute until management completely ignores it and blasts you for making them look like a fool. My EM did not have a spine either, and chose to side with the directors. Apparently my questions "made them look like we don't agree" (guess what? because the people did not agree!) The tech people are demotivated and features take a huge amount of back and forth because the tech is so old (proudly announcing that you use Twig on your website is _not_ a flex you think it is). And when people try to start new things they're very quickly coerced back to their places. The political landmine noted by the other review is real. If you enjoy swimming with sharks, this is the perfect place for you, because there's plenty of directors who only look out for each other rather than listening to voices of reason, and will neutralize you the moment you step out of line. Oh, don't you dare criticize The Process ™️. The people here have largely given up and are coasting, even though I know they want change too. But it's not happening. I guess in this climate it's better to hold onto a cushy but secure job and I do not blame them one bit. Want to coast? This is your spot. Otherwise, steer clear. Some other notes: - The job is technically "flexible time" but it's in reality very much a 9-5. Your schedule is determined by people who spends 20+ hours per week in other meetings. Good luck finding time for engineering. - They've been using contractors to fill in the void left by firing incompetent people, so your job is also 50% managing the contractors who can barely put two foobars together. It's worse than vibe coding with an LLM. - The dynamics between Thomann.io and the parent company is a landmine of itself, precisely because they're two companies. So much unnecessary back-and-forth and duplication of tech work because management can't shield tech from whatever BS is going on from the company. Or for tax reasons. I'm not an expert. - The Berlin office is a dump. The office manager is a champ but there's only so much you can do to an oven in the heat of the summer. Given how little it gets used, just rent a WeWork? At least we can get decent coffee.