Rackspace Technology reviews

We laid off the wrong people. Large, complex projects become increasing difficult to deliver without ample cat-herding skills. We laid off most the Program and Project managers at one point - which hurt us. A rank and cut across the board would have been much more effective. Instead, we nuked entire skill sets. Compensation is terrible for tenured Rackers and this seriously needs to be addressed as they are leaving in droves. Politics are eroding the culture that made Rackspace an amazing workplace once upon a time. Senior leaders cannot get along in one of the largest orgs in the company. Some senior leaders give little to no direction, leaving front line managers to fight it out. OR they dive in so deep that they're telling you what to name the data element. Org changes are frequent - multiple per year sometimes. They are poorly executed. Leadership does not follow through on promises made during the initial announcement meetings. "These two orgs will come together like one happy family and we'll see to it" and well, that's all I have to say about that. I do wonder if org changes are executed around compensation cycles on purpose? The past manager has no skin-in-the-game to compensate that Racker who won't be reporting to him/her any longer - Rackers get shafted. Some managers seriously lack basic people management training which is a shame given the level of talent of Rackers. Sometimes a great developer needs to stay a great developer or get some serious training.

... It seems to stop at Taylor and a couple of other execs. From the VP and Director level specifically, everyone is posturing and trying to make a name for themselves without regard to the lives they impact. Processes are clunky. the further managers are removed from frontline, the more disconnect there is. Expectations set by Directors, VPs can be unrealistic as they don't understand what the implications of the changes being made. Departments seem to have authority to change workflows of other departments without understanding impact. If you are at the bottom of that hill - you lose. No one ever says "we were wrong". Sometimes things are implemented and are clearly wrong... instead of saying "we were wrong, we wont hold you to those expectations" they instead sweep it under the rug and pretend like it never happened and leave expectations ambiguous for affected Rackers. Also by never admitting that leadership was wrong, there is a false sense of perfection/excellence. Contracts that are provided to employees can be complicated and really require the review of an attorney. Rackspace claims to be a "pay for performance" company but the reality is that they use this as a stick not a carrot. If you are over performing, there is not much offered. If you are under performing, actions are taken (reduced bonuses, performance improvement plans etc). Based off of recent layoffs, the seems that performance was not a key factor in who was kept. Many high performing employees were laid off... presumably because they were the highest paid in their area.