Dear Uber Recruiter

I get email from someone recruiting for Uber about once a month. I try to leverage my privilege as an engineer to speak out on what I believe in, so this is the latest iteration of the mostly-canned response I send back.

Hi [Name],

Thanks for reaching out. I really do appreciate that you took the time to check out my writing, and I’m sure the technical problems you’re solving are genuinely interesting.

However, I am a woman, and Uber’s track record on women scares me. The latest, on women who have been assaulted via Uber, felt particularly jarring. But also: The gendered attacks on a prominent woman in tech, the sexualized ads in France…

I just don’t think I’d be a culture fit.

(And, as a backend engineer, it doesn’t seem like a place I’d get a lot of respect, either.)

Again, I really do appreciate the thoughtful email. But I want to let you know why I’m not interested in working at Uber.

Best,

Tess

To Uber’s credit, I have only ever received respectful and understanding responses from their employees.