Working at Gopher comes with a strange tension: the company proudly highlights values like, "move fast to innovate," "fast, friendly, easy, right". On paper, it sounds energizing. In practice, it often feels like those ideas don't reach people doing the day-to-day work.
There’s a noticeable divide between management and the bullpen. If you’re part of what feels like the “peanut gallery,” your perspective tends to get brushed aside. Decisions can shift abruptly, sometimes without explanation, and it’s hard not to feel like your voice gets lost in the process. It creates an environment where it seems leadership has free rein to change direction on a whim, while everyone else is expected to simply keep up.
Over time, that disconnect starts to weigh on you. The work can feel dry, almost like being stuck in a looping episode of Severance. Monotone, distant, and draped in a sense of looming pressure. It’s tough to stay motivated when the atmosphere leans more toward doom-and-gloom than collaboration and growth.
On-top of that. Gopher has the worst work life balance I have ever seen. The benefits get worse and worse every year. To the point where it's actually better to go through the state for your healthcare instead of the plans Gopher offers. They took away all your freedom while management is usually no where to be seen in the office.
I hope for my friends who are still there the future brings opportunities for alignment. Where the values they proudly post on the walls actually show up in how people are treated and heard. The potential is there; the follow-through just needs to catch up.