One of the frequently reported things about tech startups is how well they treat their staff. The truth is not always so rosy.
At Yelp staff get free meals, drinks and snacks but many of them barely earn enough to pay the rent. A now fired staffer wrote an open letter to the company’s CEO describing how tough she found working their call centre on a wage that left her destitute.
Similarly Buzzfeed reports working conditions at Zenefits, last year’s hottest startup, are more akin to a boiler room than the nice, relaxed offices of places like Google.
While we often portray tech companies as being enlightened workplaces, the truth is they can be as harsh as any other employer. The big question for those working for tech startups though is how long their benefits and jobs will survive as the current funding crunch bites.