Why is Qualcomm’s culture so toxic ? I constantly hear about managers back stabbing each other, incompetent people being promoted because they are buddies with managers and directors. How can this be done by so many teams without VPs knowing it is going on. I also hear people treating job at Qualcomm as a hobby while working selling houses on the side. If one works 4 hours a day on the job the output will be obvious. What will keep the smart, honest hard working ppl at Qualcomm if this culture is not fixed ?
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If they bring back Summer on the lawn series would that change your tone!
There is favoritism in every company at every level around the world. There is no getting away from that. We all went to University and know others with talent, and recommend them when there’s an opening. What’s wrong with that? The problems I have faced at Qualcomm is horrible management skills from my Director. Being well educated does not make someone a good manager or immune to favoring someone based on race.
I don't see this blatant level of corruption at Qualcomm.
Recreating the caste system from South Asia isn't diversity.
Have you heard the term 'hiring for diversity'? That's different from 'diversity hiring'?
You are overselling diversity. Natural checks and balances are supposed to be by the leadership not a diversity policy. Flatten the hierarchy and put A players on the leadership role. Obviously everything starts from the top.
If a leadership doesn’t effect change, good luck with diversity policy changing the system.
"Focus on hiring/retaining A players." Who do you think will be classified as an 'A' player without the natural checks and balances of diversity?
Diversity hiring is in of itself a form of incompetence hiring. FAANG have the luxury/privilege to pick diversity without compromising competence. Other companies don’t. Focus on hiring/retaining A players. Diversity is a distraction.
I totally agree with Flatten the Hierarchy.
@1kwz+1ob4G5x2 you're missing the point discussed in this thread - achieve diversity without compromising competency and there will be little chance of corruption.
@1mgc+1ob4G5x2
This is a classic problem of old/older companies can’t innovate except few exceptions like Apple and Microsoft. As Steve Jobs said, you need A players as majority. If A players leave, B and C players are the majority and go up the food chain. They protect their position. Incompetence is fixed by competence not demographic BS. The Demographic solution is so onerous… countries on the other side of the pond tried it and failed.
@1jaz+1ob4G5x2
My god… the team who you worked were competent A players not because of the diversity. It so happens A players were diverse in this case because of the hiring practices without compromising competence.
" How can this be done by so many teams without VPs knowing it is going on. "
The VP's are some of the most toxic ones!
@1rrm Why? Because imagine an engineer is incompetent. Within 6 months it will be reflected and documented in his performance review. If his manager is doing his job, he'll warn him, put him on pip if he doesn't improve, then w/ HR boot him out.
What do you think happens when a manager is incompetent? (eg, NOT perform the pip he should have on the engineer). Nothing happens. Why? Why doesn't the manager's manager, seeing the manager isn't performing pips, pip the manager? Why doesn't the manager's manager's manager do something about the fact that neither manager are doing their jobs? Is it just coincidence that the 3 levels of management plus the engineer i just described were in the same demographic? Perhaps. If it's not related to the demographic , then tell me what you think it is. Three levels of incompetence without any explanation? I'm not making this example up as a hypothetical.
My first manager in a faang hired for diversity by design. It was one of the best teams (if not best) I was in. I got to learn so much from each person's unique skills and background (multiple countries fairly evenly distributed). At the same time no chance for clique formation and each person felt proud to be part the team.
Leadership is toxic therefore it spreads like a cancer. HR is corrupt as they do nothing but make it worse. CFO promotes his friends who are incompetent like him. QC has many overtitled Directors +.. all they have to do is kiss a-s.... it's a disease and if you are weak, greedy and have no standards...you buy into the toxicity.
I'm torn on this one. On one hand, yes, meritocracy and demographic are and should be different and unrelated subjects. But you'd be naive to think that at Q they're actually unrelated in reality. But then again, i've seen first hand people from the same demographic abusing each other. As well save each others jobs and help each other. So, no absolute 100% conclusion can be drawn. However, you'd be foolish to think they actually ARE unrelated in the real world.
The fact that Qualcomm has a culture is incredible. Just be happy you have a job - Qualcomm wouldn’t exist with out Donald Trump. So everyone should just be happy to have a job and something to complain about.
Why are people confusing with incompetence with lack of diversity? Those are completely different issues. You are just replacing natural incompetence with structural incompetence.
@1jwk+1ob4G5x2 which world are you living in? Do you understand Denver Nuggets is a meritocracy? Until Q becomes meritocracy again need to fix the very problem that eroded it. Just like the greats of yesterday's Cisco etc - meritocracy at one time now overrun by one demographic into declines.
You lost me at “Ensure true demographic diversity at every team and level”. This is some co---e level. Keep it simple with meritocracy. My god.
"Ensure true demographic diverisity at every team and level. Otherwise too many loopholes to form cliques that scratch each other's backs."
diversity has no place in physics
just grab the best scientists/engineers
do you hear the Denver Nuggets talking about how they needed true demographic diversity
Q started off fine without any of that garbage then it turned into some sort of
racist bureaucracy - bleep
@1zxb You hit the nail on the head, especially with #1. That alone would help greatly. Though I have seen cross-ethnicity cronyism in action as well. But a strong yes to #1.
I think #4 should be more honest and active involvement from HR when complaints are filed. Their mandate is a short-term view of company self-protection, at the cost of long-term damage to their reputation and employee morale as word gets out of how they handle the bad apples. They should be focused on eliminating bad apples, not protecting apples higher up on the tree.
Simple fixes:
- Ensure true demographic diverisity at every team and level. Otherwise too many loopholes to form cliques that scratch each other's backs.
- Principal and director should be separate tracks. 'Principal' criteria should be significant innovation/inventions and huge tech impact.
- Flatten the hierarchy. That will discourage subcontinent types who only want 'manager' title for bragging rights to their friends and relatives ad will encourage techie types.
Few years back the Indian folks working in Qualcomm were contributing more time to Amway business. They were out selling Amway products.
Why is it toxic? moneymoneymoneymoney. VP salaries are likely $1MM total comp. Sr Dirs all want to be VPs. They'll do anything to get there. That means cow-towing to the VPs, throwing people entrusted to them under the bus, to ingratiate themselves to the existing VPs, because it is THOSE VP's that need to approve the promotion of the weasely Sr Dir to the big VP payday.
What makes you think VPs don't know what's going on? They're very much aware and actually the cause of the behavior. You're asking why aren't they the solution, when they are the problem.
The only hope is if the SVP in charge would do something to police the behavior of the VPs. Fat chance of that. They make SO much money that have zero motivation to rock the boat.
Money, and people selling their integrity to get it, is the root cause of the toxicity. They don't care about the end goal, not how they get there.
It’s all your hearing