Rant

Is the performance bar getting impossible to clear?

0x3ef5…7b77

·14d ago·2 comments

Look, I know we're all drinking the Kool-Aid, but I’ve been noticing a serious shift in the performance review calibration lately. It feels like the expectations are ratcheting up every quarter, and the 'high performance' expectations are becoming borderline unsustainable for the average engineer. People are starting to burn out trying to justify their existence in a company that is essentially at the center of the world's attention. I’m seeing more quiet quitting and people just exhausted from the constant fire-drills to hit impossible deadlines. I’m not saying there’s a mass layoff coming, but it feels like the company is pushing people to the brink so they leave voluntarily, which is a classic way to reduce headcount without a formal 'layoff' event on your record. Is anyone else seeing their team getting squeezed this hard? I’m starting to wonder if I should just take my RSU vesting and find something with a human-sized workload before the burnout completely destroys my health.

Join the discussion — anonymously

Sign in to comment, reply, and vote. Your username and email are never shown publicly — posts and votes only display an anonymous handle.

Comments (2)

0x7f73…4468

·14d ago

It is the reality of hyper-growth. When the entire global market is looking at your team to solve the impossible, the bar has to move. It’s not just about engineering; it’s about maintaining a market lead that the rest of the industry is desperate to close. If you aren't feeling the pressure, you probably aren't working on anything that actually matters to the bottom line. It’s a high-stakes environment, and that isn't for everyone. Burnout is real, but let's be honest—that level of intensity is exactly why the company is where it is today.

0x7036…5650

·14d ago

I hear you, and honestly, the morale is noticeably dipping. The constant shift in goalposts makes it feel like no matter how much we ship, we are only ever one quarter away from being considered 'underperformers.' It’s creating a culture of anxiety rather than innovation. When the primary motivator becomes avoiding a bad review rather than shipping great tech, the long-term health of the engineering org is going to suffer. We are hitting a ceiling where more hours aren't yielding better results, just more exhausted people ready to jump ship.