WARNING: First, do not believe the fake, planted positive reviews. Nobody who has worked at Grindr for more than one year, as the five star review conveniently pinned at the top of this page claims, will have anything positive to say about the current state of Grindr. I can guarantee that.
BACKGROUND: Grindr used to be one of the best places to work. Since Chinese corporation Kunlun took over, it has become one of the worst possible work environments I have ever come across, and I’ve seen my fair share of companies, industries, and geographies. I’ve noticed that a lot of the reviews on here are Engineering-related, so I want to make it clear that the current abysmal work environment applies to every department in the new, Chinese-owned Grindr. Every. Single. One.
ISSUES: To summarize, executive management is at the crux of everything wrong with the current work environment. They are untrustworthy and lack humility. Allow me to elaborate further on these two points.
The reason why the executive management team can’t be trusted is based entirely on their actions over the last six months. Once the acquisition went through, they promised that they were not looking to make any headcount cuts. One month later they slashed half of the Engineering department and outsourced it to China. They said this was a “surgical incision” that was necessary to operate in an efficient manner. They explicitly said that they wanted to have one singular cut to headcount so that those remaining could feel safe and secure in their jobs. Three or four months later they eliminated the entire Direct Sales department. No warning. No heads up. They claimed that this was in the best interest of the business and that it was a part of a business model restructure that would improve Grindr’s financial performance. Wrong. This has not happened. Most recently, they’ve made layoffs to Marketing. Again, no warning, no reason, no explanation after-the-fact. I would not be surprised if they continue hacking away at headcount by turning to the other departments. No one’s job is safe.
Moving on to my second point about management lacking humility. What do I mean by that? I mean we currently have a C-suite team that is 100% Chinese, 100% heterosexual, and 100% sure that they know what is best for the American gay community (and gay communities across the globe). Same can be said for a lot of the management team one level below. When they do make hires, they are almost always Chinese hires and almost always heterosexual. They clearly don’t see any value in having a voice at the table that can actually speak to the needs of the audience they are trying to reach. If you have something to say that challenges their way of thinking or desired approach, you can forget it. They will not even entertain the conversation.
Furthermore, there is a very clear sense of favoritism in the current environment. Chinese employees are always hanging around the executives and they are always speaking in Mandarin in the LA office. There have been countless examples where management has made a decision that wasn’t the best choice, but conveniently benefited one or more Chinese employees. They seem to know when the layoffs are happening before they happen. They always have more information than the rest of the company. It’s almost like they’ve taken it upon themselves to create an “us versus them” office environment and it’s very toxic and unpleasant.
So to summarize, people at Grindr either can’t express their opinions, or simply have them ignored, and are always looking over their shoulder, waiting to be told that they are no longer needed.
If you’re looking at Grindr as a prospective employer, take my advice and keep looking. I have seen these guys fire people before their start date. I have seen them promote people and then let them go one month later. Do you really want to put your career development in their hands?
