We Are Red Hat Week: 15 ways Red Hat culture sparks joy

As we gear up for the anniversary of the original release of Red Hat Linux on October 31st, Red Hatters all around the globe are celebrating We Are Red Hat Week this week. It is our annual celebration of all the things that make Red Hat, Red Hat: our brand, our culture, and, most of all, our people! 

In preparation for this week, we asked folks to share their favorite part about working at Red Hat. We had an overwhelming number of responses talking about how Red Hat's culture—from management style to our open embracing of diversity and authenticity—brings Red Hatters joy. Here are a few of those responses.

"Working with people across the globe. I love learning about different cultures while working towards shared business goals with Red Hatters all over the world. I am constantly amazed and encouraged by my friends in far away places. It gives me hope for humanity." — Rick W., Engineering

"Everyone is encouraged to bring our full selves to Red Hat and to share our opinions and have a healthy conversation when considering making decisions and strategy. Red Hat's culture is diverse, welcoming, and nurturing. It is a special place that truly values employees, customers, and our vision to allow 'open' to unlock the world's potential." — Stu M., Marketing

"My favorite thing about Red Hat (and it's very hard to pick just one) is that we are encouraged to be our authentic selves and are welcomed into the culture just the way we are. This is a place that works hard to be fair to all, to listen to the thoughts and ideas of our associates and genuinely cares about the development of everyone who works here." — Krystl N, Project Management

"I love how easy it is to connect with anyone, regardless of position in the hierarchy. Informational interviews are readily accepted and there are always people around to answer questions if you have them. It's so different from my last role at another company and is incredibly refreshing."  — Regi C., Program Management

"There is not only a single thing that I love about working at Red Hat. The people, the open culture, the teamwork and the positive environment at Red Hat, everything is just amazing. The work culture here is not just awesome, it's inspiring. The people I've had the privilege to work with have been incredibly supportive and the positive environment has been a constant source of motivation. What truly excites me is that there's so much to learn here everyday. Red Hat is the best thing that has happened to me. Proud Red Hatter today and always." — Minal S., Engineering

"We Are Red Hat Week is my favorite thing about working here. When I first joined Red Hat, I didn't know much about this event. I saw the emails and messages about 'WARHW' and was somewhat confused. Why all this talk about 'war hardware'? After sorting out the acronym correctly, I experienced my first WARHW. Things I didn't know, like Halloween is Red Hat's anniversary. Red Hat has a costume contest. And a talent show that includes all types, and levels, of talent. The open embracing of that level of fun, in a genuine way, and it not being limited to a single week of the year, is a bit off-beat and sometimes silly. Red Hat has evolved since I joined, but we are still a bit off-beat, and still sometimes silly."  — Spank M., Technical Writing

"Red Hat culture takes 'open' to an extreme!  We've all seen great company cultures, but there is no comparison to what Red Hat has built and sustained." — Mitch C., Technical Account Management

"That there is a short distance between leadership and the people 'on the floor'. We have the ability to email and communicate with the CEO on anything we like. I also love the people here. We are open! It's easy to get help from all parts of the company, everybody is willing to help." — Lene J., Technical Support

"Red Hat truly embraces an agile, blameless and global culture. It really feels like a big community, instead of a corporation." — Jann F., Engineering

"This is the first organization I've worked for where management takes its role seriously as positive mentors. In the past, the worst companies I've worked for had a management culture that was steeped in taking punitive measures to optimize performance." — Matthew Y., Technical Marketing

"What I like the most about working at Red Hat is the ability to show up as my authentic self and the opportunity to grow as a leader without compromising authenticity and core values." — Zineb B., Engineering

"The community. I've never worked at a company where I truly feel like everyone wants the best for each other and for the company." — Erin M., Intranet

"The open culture and the freedom you get to do your job while still being accountable for it." — Andres H., Content

"Freedom. At Red Hat I feel like I've been set free to push against the boundaries of what my position is described as, and I'm encouraged to seek novel solutions for customers' needs.

I've never had a job like this. 6 years later, I'm still amazed at how much room there is to explore collaboration with other teams." — Skip W., Technical Account Management

"My favorite thing about working at Red Hat is that I never feel like the odd one out - the weirdo who is really into open source and free software culture - nope. We're all in on it. Red Hat is my people :)" — Mairin D., Design

Learn more about Red Hat

• Our company: Building a better foundation for the future of IT
• Powered by open: Our culture is who we are
• Community and social responsibility
• Open innovation: Creating better technology using open source
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion: An open, inclusive culture