Humane company with little hierarchies and friendly colleagues
Pros
Hierarchies are flat, decisions in the teams are usually made by almost consensus, although the extent of this varies from team to team. The only authority is the CEO and coordination team. They interfere very little in day-to-day decisions and impose only a small number of rules, but on the other hand manage to shield a lot of the necessity for economic thinking off the teams, making it possible to get work done efficiently, create really high quality products with a lot of attention to detail, interact with customers like a human and feel pride in what we do. Customers love us and our products, which feels very rewarding. Because there is no career ladder based on job titles, there is practically no competition for status, but rather a culture of solidarity, honesty and benevolence where people are valued based on their skills and contributions. There is a lot of respect and understanding for personal life choices, in particular related to having children, and it is really uncomplicated to work any amount of part time, work fully remotely, adjust working hours and take time off when needed. The default language is English, and there is a significant number of coworkers who speak little to no German. While the people in positions of power are mostly men, there is awareness about gender inequality and a strong feminist faction among the staff that is met with very little resistance. Wages are fair and based on experience and performance. Wages are increased significantly every year without needing to ask for it, and I have the impression that people are treated equally no matter if/how they ask for raises or not. There is a significant profit share once a year. A lot of effort is put into making the office and company events really nice. Every 3 months employees are required to come to Stuttgart for a week to meet their colleagues for discussions and social events (the company of course pays for the expenses).
Cons
The products mostly help medium/large companies organize their documentation workflows better, meaning that they are not something to impress your friends with or that gives you the feeling of making the world a better place. Our work happens mostly within the Atlassian ecosystem, which is created within the Silicon Valley work culture quite different from ours. It can sometimes be frustrating how Atlassian is treating us and our/its customers. Compared to other companies, I would say that working here has a medium environmental impact, due to the use of expensive equipment that is often designed not to be repairable, and the regular use of airplanes (at least by some positions in the company). While gender equality and inclusivity for non-German speakers is comparatively good, regarding some other types of societally disadvantaged groups, the company is not very diverse. If you are part of such a group, you will be met with good intentions, but might encounter an initial lack of experience with incorporating your needs. Right now there are no gender-neutral and no wheelchair-friendly toilets as far as I'm aware, although I think there is the potential to change this if needed. The staff is predominantly young, I believe right now no one is older than 50. The company has about 60 employees right now with an appropriately sized office. Obviously you cannot expect the amenities that you might find in a huge corporation. Notably, there are no showers at the office.
