A program where employees can rate each other, detailed emails that describe why someone lost their job, and managers who feel pressured to regularly fire people.

These may sound like shocking practices at some companies, but at Netflix they're not only encouraged - they're the norm.

So claim a number of former and current employees, who told the Wall Street Journal that there's a 'culture of fear' at the massively successful streaming and content company.

One international employee, who worked at Netflix's office in Singapore, went so far as to say that it reminded her of the culture in North Korea.

Former and current employees of Netflix have revealed that behind the scenes of the popular streaming site is a culture of fear where people come to work every day afraid they'll be fired

To the outside world, Netflix seems like a dream workplace.

With headquarters in northern California's affluent Los Gatos neighborhood and sky high salaries that regularly reach six figures, it has all the workings of a Silicon Valley fantasy land.

And with more than 137 million global subscribers and Emmy nomination numbers that now rival HBO, the company is continuing to find massive success.

But top Netflix executives are under the belief that being among the best comes by being transparent - and often ruthless.

'A dream team is about pushing yourself to be the best teammate you can be,' Netflix tells its employees. 'And knowing that you may not be on the team forever.'

More than 70 current and former employees talked to WSJ about the culture that Neflix prides itself on, one that largely centers on something called the 'keeper test'.

The keeper test has become the mantra for when it comes to firing people at Netflix: Managers must constantly ask themselves whether they would fight to keep an employee.

It's a strategy that many employees said had them constantly in fear of losing their jobs - while managers feared not firing people enough made them look 'soft'.

A public relations executive recently admitted in a meeting that he comes to work every day afraid that he could get fired.

Karen Barragan, the vice president of publicity for original series, then asked everyone at the meeting how many others felt that way.

'Good, because fear drives you,' she said as a number of hands raised to the ceiling. Barragan has since denied that she ever made such a remark.

Employees talked of Chief Executive Reed Hastings' 'keeper test', in which managers are encouraged to fire any employee on their team they wouldn't fight for

But Netflix does have a history of cutthroat goodbyes, with staff even witnessing CEO Reed Hastings firing Neil Hunt - one of his closest friends and among Netflix's earliest employees - last year.

Hunt had been the company's longtime chief product officer and even helped create the algorithm that helps select programming for viewers.

A dream team is about pushing yourself to be the best teammate you can be. And knowing that you may not be on the team forever

Sean Carey, who helped build Netflix's streaming library, was asked to stand in the room while Ted Sarandos - Netflix's chief content officer - explained to the team why he had been let go.

Sarandos told the group that Carey was no longer suited for the company as it expanded into original content.

Such transparency is par for course at Netflix, where detailed emails are sent out explaining why people were fired after they're let go from the company.

Some of the emails can reach 'hundreds of employees across multiple divisions', employees said.

And many of these emails can be 'painfully specific, calling out an employee's flaws while inviting more questions and gossip'.

A number of Netflix employees had stories of insensitive firings that completely took them by surprise.

Ernie Tam had been at the company for six years when he was called into his manager's office one day and told he was 'no longer a star performer'.

The company has a history of cutthroat goodbyes. Hastings fired Neil Hunt, one of his closest friends and Netflix's earliest employees, last year. They are pictured here together in 2014

'I just left the office and never came back,' Tam said. 'For a period of six years, I was a star performer, then all of a sudden I was not.'

Tam said he had received some negative feedback from his manager over the previous month before his firing, but in the past had been given time to improve by other bosses.

But one employee claims that she was let go because she didn't fire someone else on her team fast enough.

A former marketing vice president had been on a shoot in New York City all weekend to help promote Orange Is The New Black.

I just left the office and never came back. For a period of six years, I was a star performer, then all of a sudden I was not

That same weekend she was scheduled for a meeting with Kelly Bennett, Netflix's chief marketing officer, and Tawni Nazario-Cranz, who at the time was the company's chief talent officer.

The pair met the woman at her hotel, where Bennett fired her and said she was no longer a 'cultural fit'. He then 'got up and walked out'.

The woman said she then turned to Nazario-Cranz and asked 'What could I have done differently?'

She said Nazario-Cranz replied that 'she should have fired somebody on her team faster'.

'I was trying to help somebody in their career, and they maybe saw that as a sign of weakness from me,' the woman said.

Netflix spokesman Richard Siklos has since claimed the former executive was fired 'because of their personal behavior'.

He also denied that managers are judged for how many people they fire.

'Being part of Netflix is like being part of an Olympic team,' the company said in a statement.

'Getting cut, when it happens, is very disappointing but there is no shame at all. Our former employees get a generous severance and they generally get snapped up by another company.'

'We give adequate performers a generous severance package so that we can find a star for that position.'

Ted Sarandos - Netflix's chief content officer - once asked the company's longtime chief product officer to stand and listen as Sarandos explained to their peers why he had been fired

And before one is fired from the company, there is ample opportunity for them to hear exactly just how people think they're doing at Netflix.

That's because the company has an entire computer program dedicated to giving feedback called '360'.

I think we're transparent to a fault in our culture and that can come across as cutthroat

Anyone can use the software tool to review any other employee in the company - even Hastings.

Some teams even do 'real-time 360s' in which everyone goes around the table to give feedback on their peers - who are sitting right next to them.

Brandon Welch, a former Netflix talent executive, said the pressure to give and receive feedback was 'the hardest part about the culture'.

'It can be intense and awkward,' he added.

'I think we're transparent to a fault in our culture and that can come across as cutthroat,' Walta Nemariam, who works in talent acquisition, said in a recent Netflix video that was made to address the company's atmosphere.

But transparency is the norm at Netflix, where almost every employee can look at sensitive information heavily guarded from the outside world - including viewership of shows - and executives can see the salaries of all their colleagues.

Netflix decided last year to let any executive with a director title or above - a group that encompasses at least 500 people - access everyone's salary.

It was a decision that some current and former employees said made them see 'dollar figures over colleagues' heads in the hallways'.

Still, Netflix employees don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon - at least on their own accord.

Only 4 percent of employees leave the company voluntarily every year, far below the average of 13 percent in American companies.

Netflix also has a below average turnover rate - 11 percent compared to 13 percent - although its firing rate is two percent higher than the national average at 8 percent.

Sometimes, it seems, the perks are worth the pain.