No matter how they’re designed—manager discretion, calibration committees, or opaque algorithms—performance reviews in big tech reliably produce results that are neither meritocratic nor humane. In practice, compensation and promotions still hinge on a single decision-maker.

I wrote a dark, deliberately cynical essay comparing Apple and Roblox, two companies where I managed teams, that tried very different approaches to performance evaluation and failed in different ways.

Even if we could make these systems “fair,” I’m not convinced that’s the right goal. What people actually want isn’t better algorithms, but humane treatment and rational judgment when it matters.