Some Facebook employees reportedly resent WhatsApp engineers for their bigger desks and nicer bathrooms
- A difference in company cultures and philosophies has sprouted intra-office issues among some Facebook and WhatsApp employees, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- The companies, which were built separately, were brought together following Facebook's 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp.
- The employee issues aren't based on code or company plans: Some Facebook employees ridicule WhatsApp's secrecy, and resent the bigger desks and nicer bathrooms that were granted to WhatsApp when it moved to their campus last year.
- The Journal also reports there have been significant clashes between WhatsApp's founders and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.
Facebook and WhatsApp, two companies built separately and on vastly different philosophical foundations, are having some trouble making their employees live harmoniously under the same roof, according to The Wall Street Journal's Kirsten Grind and Deepa Seetharaman.
The Journal reports that WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum have had their fair share of disagreements with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg in the years since the social media giant acquired the messaging platform in 2014.
The core disagreement has reportedly revolved around the two companies' differing business models, and apparent pressure from Zuckerberg and Sandberg to turn WhatsApp into an advertising-based messaging platform; an issue that's largely believed to be the reason behind Koum's recent departure from the company.
But beyond the big-picture disagreements about WhatsApp's business model, there also seems to be some drama amongst Facebook and WhatsApp employees over amenities and shared space.
For starters, some members of the WhatsApp team were reportedly turned off by the restaurants and shops that surrounded their new offices at Facebook HQ. Later, The Journal reports that Facebook employees took issue when WhatsApp employees negotiated for nicer bathrooms with stall doors that reached the floor, and brought in their old office desks, which are larger than Facebook's standard-sized ones.
The clearest display of the difference in office culture, however, was when WhatsApp's team put up posters in the hallway that read "please keep noise to a minimum," and Facebook employees took the opportunity to respond with the chant, "Welcome to WhatsApp - Shut up!"
You can read more about the clashing execs, and company cultures, over at The Wall Street Journal.