{"id":338902,"date":"2017-04-21T02:28:36","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T18:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1479422"},"modified":"2017-04-21T02:28:36","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T18:28:36","slug":"lyft-head-of-engineering-pens-a-letter-to-teammates-asking-for-open-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/lyft-head-of-engineering-pens-a-letter-to-teammates-asking-for-open-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyft head of engineering pens a letter to teammates asking for open communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Lyft\u2019s\u00a0head of engineering Jill Wetzler has penned a heartfelt letter to her fellow teammates asking them to chat openly with her about any issues they may be facing in the workplace.<\/p>\n

The letter, sent on anonymous workplace app Blind and obtained by TechCrunch, pleads with employees to reach out to her. Here\u2019s what she wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"\u201cTo those who are either posting or lurking here: I want to offer up my availability to chat freely,\u201d she writes. \u201cI struggle with my own work\/life balance, anxiety around compensation, and the conflict between feeling grateful for the many privileges\u00a0I have while still wanting better from my peers, my company, and my industry. I often feel really energized by our company mission and the amazing people here, and yet like most women my age I daydream about when I\u2019ll leave tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I want for Lyft (and any company I work for) is for us to iterate and improve. I want transparency in communication, both from our leadership and from our individual contributors. This is not to say I begrudge anyone posting on Blind. But I also want you to know I\u2019ll talk to anyone about anything without judgment. I can\u2019t always promise change but can at least ensure you\u2019re heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to take me up on it, send me an email or Slack DM and we\u2019ll grab 30 minutes. I can promise you whatever level of \"\"anonymity you want, as long as it\u2019s not something I\u2019m required to escalate (harassment, discrimination, etc.). If I ever had to escalate something, I\u2019d let you know ahead of time and help you through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sincere in this. I come to work every day to be around great people. Let\u2019s talk action and make Lyft\u00a0better together. Let\u2019s connect with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lyft is seen as the softer, fuzzier counter to its ride-hailing rival Uber and it doesn\u2019t take much to link this approach with the experience of former Uber engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti,\u00a0who famously posted about being propositioned and discriminated against while working at the company.<\/p>\n

There have been some serious questions raised about Uber\u2019s internal culture lately, particularly in this instance in the way it has treated women and perhaps Lyft\u2019s head of engineering hoped to head off the same sorts of issues. Tech, in general, has been notoriously bad at the way it treats and promotes women. Though Lyft did not want to comment for this story, it\u2019s clear at Wetzler has at least been concerned with being proactive about avoiding a culture of misogyny and fear.<\/p>\n

We should note Blind has also been an instrumental tool<\/a> within both companies for employees to communicate issues on an anonymous basis. Though Uber banned<\/a> using the app while on company grounds earlier this year, an Uber spokesperson says employees have access to it again so perhaps it is also rethinking how it listens in when issues arise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Lyft’s head of engineering Jill Wetzler has penned a heartfelt letter to her fellow teammates asking them to chat openly with her about any issues they may be facing in the workplace. The letter, sent on anonymous workplace app Blind and obtained by TechCrunch, pleads with employees to reach out to her. Here’s what she wrote. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-338902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}