Netflix and Hulu are the two most popular streaming services in the U.S. Netflix leads with 58.5 million subscribers in the country, while Hulu comes in 2ndwith 25 million subscribers. But the cost of both services’ basic plans are going in opposite directions. Netflix subscriptions are getting more expensive, with its standard HD streaming plan now priced at $12.99 per month. Hulu keeps getting cheaper, with its own standard plan dropping to $5.99 a month on February 26thof this year.
Both services are supported by most devices. Netflix offers a 4K streaming option, Hulu does not. Netflix has a reputation built mostly on their original material like Bird Boxand Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Hulu has The Handmaid’s Tale(but not in 4K.) On Netflix, you can watch “comfort TV” reruns of Friendsand The Office. Hulu, however, has cornered that market with exclusive streaming rights to major TV classics like The Simpsons, South Park, Seinfeldand quite a few more.
In the near future, Disney, AT&T, and Comcast will all debut dedicated streaming services, so these two companies’ time at the top may be coming to an end. But right now, Netflix and Hulu are the 800 pound gorillas of the streaming market.
So how do employees of both rate their company’s culture from the inside? What’s it like to work for Netflix or Hulu?
Company Culture
“The culture really lets you be yourself and often even celebrates it,” says one worker of Netflix’s company culuture. “Selflessness, passion, impact, integrity, judgment, inclusion. These are just some of the things we expect every day from our teams.” Women, however, ranked the company’s culture a full five points lower at 78.
One Hulu employee writes of Hulu’s company culture, “It is a tremendously low-performing culture. Over time Hulu has acquired folks resistant to change and only willing to do the bare minimum… Far too much talking and not enough doing.” Another calls the culture at Hulu “a ‘romper room’ environment that encourages inappropriateness.”
CEO
“Reed Hastings is a great CEO and I think the sentiment is pretty much positive across the board,” reports a Netflix employee of the company’s general sentiment towards its chief executive.
A Hulu employee says of company’s leadership is “passive and inexperienced,” and that the executive suite is plagued by “a lot of infighting and empire building.”
Compensation
Netflix employees say of their compensation, “When they say they pay ‘top of market,’ they mean it.” Women rate Netflix’s compensation eight points lower at 69.
Of their pay, a Hulu worker reports, “Hulu totes ‘competitive compensation,’ but that’s only the case if you’re a director or above.”
Perks and Benefits
Of Netflix’s time-off policy, an employee writes, “We get unlimited vacation which means some people take advantage and some people don’t take enough time.”
Hulu offers unlimited PTO as well, but also has “bad tuition reimbursement program” as well as “no mentorship program” and “bad internal development programs.”
Diversity
“We’re broadly diverse, not only in terms of gender and race, but also work and education backgrounds,” writes one Netflix worker of the company’s diversity.
A Hulu employee describes their company’s diversity situation, however, as “a bunch of white dudes from Amazon and Microsoft who came to Hulu (and) continue to hire more white dudes from Amazon and Microsoft.”
Female participants rated Netflix eight points lower at 74, and Hulu five points higher and also at 74.
Gender
Another Hulu employee adds, “HR deflects questions about diversity, and thinks having a couple of women in mid-level leadership positions constitutes diversity. Tragic.”
