The reality of working for Facebook - BBC
Summary
TLDRThe video script highlights a company culture that thrives on innovation and embraces failure, exemplified by regular hackathons where the 'like' button was born. Facebook's unique approach to employee engagement includes two birthdays, family days, and pride events with celebrity inspirations. The company's focus is on community building and social value rather than profit, with a mission to connect the world and tackle global issues. With an impressive recruitment strategy, Facebook is rapidly hiring engineers to drive future growth, offering a 6-week boot camp and job flexibility to ensure alignment with the company's values and impact.
Takeaways
- 🏆 The organization values innovation and risk-taking, with regular hackathons to encourage new ideas.
- 🎂 Employees celebrate two birthdays: their own and their 'face-versary', marking their time with the company.
- 🏢 The company culture includes family-friendly events and pride celebrations, aiming to inspire and connect employees.
- 🚲 The campus features amenities like bikes, shops, and an arcade, all free to help employees focus on their work.
- 🌐 The company's mission is to connect the world and address global problems, with a focus on social value.
- 💼 The company is rapidly hiring engineers, with over 10,000 people hired in the last year and plans to double in size.
- 🌟 New employees, called 'noobs', undergo a 6-week boot camp to understand the company's departments and culture.
- 🔍 Employees are encouraged to choose their own projects, focusing on problems they care about, which can lead to departmental pitches.
- 👥 The company's approach is unique, with engineers driving change rather than managers dictating it from above.
- 💰 Despite having a revenue of over fifty-five billion dollars, the company prioritizes community and social impact over profit.
Q & A
What is the purpose of the 24-hour lock-in event known as a hackathon?
-The hackathon is an event where staff are encouraged to innovate and try new ideas. It is a platform for employees to develop and test new concepts, such as the like button, which was developed during one of these events.
How often do these hackathons occur?
-These hackathons occur every few months, with each office getting together for their own 24-hour lock-in.
What is the significance of having two birthdays for employees?
-Employees have two birthdays: their own and their 'face-versary,' which is the anniversary of their joining the company. This is a way to celebrate their personal and professional milestones within the organization.
What kind of events does the company organize to engage the workforce?
-The company organizes events such as bring your family to work days, pride events, and even invites celebrities to inspire the workforce.
What is the company's approach to employee benefits and facilities?
-The company provides a small village with bikes, shops, and an arcade, all free for employees to use. This is to ensure that everyone can focus on their work and the mission of connecting the world.
What is the current hiring rate for engineers at the company?
-The company is hiring more engineers at a staggering rate, with over 10,000 people hired in the last year and 50 new engineers arriving in London every week.
How does the company view the role of engineers in its operations?
-Engineers are seen as the drivers of change in the company, rather than managers passing the change downwards. This is a significant shift in the typical corporate structure.
What is the company's revenue and how does it influence their recruitment strategy?
-With a revenue of over fifty-five billion dollars, the company has the financial power to attract the best engineers globally, using a unique approach to recruitment.
What is the term used for new employees and what is the process they go through?
-New employees are called 'noobs' and they go through a 6-week boot camp where they are introduced to various departments and allowed to choose where they want to work.
How does the company handle the issue of inappropriate content and potential harm on its platform?
-The company is aware of the challenges of people trying to reach out to minors for inappropriate purposes and signals that something terrible might happen. They are working on addressing these issues to ensure the safety and integrity of their platform.
What is the company's primary focus in terms of product decisions and community impact?
-The company is designed to create communities and let those communities make a difference in the world. They focus on whether each product decision does good in the world, with money being a secondary consideration.
Outlines
😀 Innovative Culture and Employee Celebrations
This paragraph introduces an organization that fosters innovation and embraces failure, exemplified by regular hackathons where employees are encouraged to develop new ideas. The company's unique culture is highlighted by celebrating two birthdays for each employee, one personal and one for their 'face-versary', indicating the date they joined Facebook. The company also organizes family days, pride events, and brings in celebrities to inspire the workforce. Additionally, the company provides a village-like environment with free amenities for employees, emphasizing a focus on global connectivity and problem-solving. The rapid hiring of engineers is noted, with the expectation that these new recruits will drive the company's future growth and innovation.
🛠️ Emphasis on Constructive Feedback and Social Value
The paragraph discusses the company's philosophy of treating feedback as a gift and the importance of giving constructive criticism without showing off. The company's mission is to connect people and bring social value through their products, with every product decision being evaluated on its potential to do good in the world. The company's revenue and its focus on hiring top engineers are mentioned, emphasizing the scale of impact that changes made within the company can have globally. The recruitment process for new employees, referred to as 'noobs', is described, including a 6-week boot camp and the opportunity for new hires to choose their department based on their interests and the company's needs.
👥 Employee Empowerment and Responsibility
This section highlights the company's culture of empowerment, where employees are given the responsibility to make the company better or worse through their actions and decisions. The importance of not tolerating self-promotion and focusing on the collective good is emphasized. The company's structure is described as one where engineers drive change, rather than managers dictating from the top down, which is a significant cultural difference from other companies. The scale of the company's operations is underscored, with the understanding that even small changes can have a significant impact due to the vast reach of the platform.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Hackathon
💡Innovation
💡Like Button
💡Employee Benefits
💡Engineers
💡Meta Platforms, Inc.
💡Revenue
💡Recruitment
💡Constructive Feedback
💡Social Value
Highlights
The organization encourages risk-taking and embraces failure.
Every few months, each office holds a 24-hour hackathon to foster innovation.
The like button was developed during one of these hackathons.
All employees have two birthdays, their own and their 'face-versary'.
Bring your family to work days and pride events are organized to inspire the workforce.
Celebrities are invited to inspire employees.
The company has a small village with free bikes, shops, and an arcade.
The company is hiring more engineers at an unprecedented rate.
In the last year, over 10,000 people were hired, with 50 new engineers arriving in London each week.
The company is set to double in the next few years, relying on new engineers.
Feedback is given in a constructive manner, focusing on improvement rather than showing off.
The company's primary goal is to create communities, not just make money.
Revenue is over fifty-five billion dollars, allowing the company to attract top engineers.
New employees are called 'noobs' and go through a 6-week boot camp.
Noobs can choose where they work, ensuring they tackle problems they care about.
Departments have to pitch to prospective employees to attract them.
Engineers are the ones driving change, unlike in other companies where managers typically lead.
Every small change made at the company can have a significant impact due to its scale.
Transcripts
[Music]
this is an organization that rewards
risk and embraces failure
[Music]
every few months each office get
together for their own 24-hour lock-in
where staff are encouraged to innovate
and try new ideas it's what they call a
hackathon and it's how they came up with
the like button coding it's like cooking
big man you work for hours to find the
perfect recipe and once you found it
bingo you sell it to the world at
Facebook all employees have two
birthdays their own and their face
versary which they celebrate each year
there at the company they have bring
your family to work days pride events
and they get celebrities in to inspire
the workforce
they even have a small village with
bikes shops and an arcade everything is
free so everyone can focus on connecting
the world to help fix the scale of the
problems that have been exposed they're
hiring more engineers at a staggering
rate these are the people who will be
responsible for taking Facebook into the
future today they're being initiated
into the unique culture in the last year
they've hired more than 10,000 people
every week 50 new engineers arrived in
London hello everyone this is Raymond
from China and I will be joined at
London office as a software engineer hi
my name is marina I join in in London
originally Russia with the company set
to double in the next few years
it's these engineers they're now relying
on to fix things as well as grow the
business when we say this is now your
company we really mean it this isn't
just any other company this is now your
company so it's in your hands to make
this company better or worse when we
give feedback we give feedback in a way
that is constructive and it's not just
showing that you are the smartest person
in the room we do talk about feedback
being a gift but we don't believe in
being ourselves and that's like it's
straight up we just we don't tolerate
decks everything we do we're doing to
connect people and we're doing to try
and bring social value in that
connection that means that every product
decision that we make is tuned for does
it do good in the world we're not a
company that's designed to make money
we're a company that's designed to
create communities and let those
communities make a difference in the
world
we think about money as a secondary
thing
with a revenue of over fifty five
billion dollars Facebook have the power
to scoop up the best engineers on the
planet with their own unique approach to
recruitment new employees are called
noobs and go through a 6-week boot camp
where they're introduced to the many
departments to know exactly where your
eyes are and that allows you to actually
superimpose funny glasses anything you
really wanted most noobs don't apply for
a specific job they're allowed to choose
where they work it's supposed to make
sure they end up taking on problems they
care about most but it means each
department has to pitch to prospective
employees it's an unfortunate fact that
there are a lot of people were trying to
reach out to minors on all kinds of
platforms including ours for
inappropriate purposes they also have to
worry about all kinds of things where
people give signals on the platform that
something terrible might happen
the most interesting thing here is just
the mindset is completely different
engineers are the ones driving the
change whereas in other companies
usually it's the managers get passing
the change downwards it's a big
difference I have to get used to it you
know it's Facebook so everything you do
here is in such scale whatever small
change you make it's gonna reach so many
people you need to think how you make
well it's kind of a cliche but the
impact
big smiles three two one
[Music]
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