404 Future Success Cannot Be Found - Software Engineer F5 Employee Review

Employee engagement programs were all but shut down. People who worked across departments were all let go. Internal Promotions were almost non-existent. External hiring added management at all levels who would show up, announce a major change to boost their name and then leave. Compensation did not even try to keep up with the market. 2 years with no raises due to pandemic uncertainty, followed by a "raise" and a cut in RSUs that landed in a wash despite huge cost of living increases at the same time. RTO demands while over 3/4 of employees did not see value in returning. Distributed teams not properly managed by inflexible managers. Unreasonable hours and regular weekend work because no-one felt they could actually log off for a break. I was here for over 5 years, and there was only 1 year we did not have either a major re-org or large layoffs. Layoffs often selected employees who were not redundant forcing others to pick up the slack and learn new skills rapidly. This resulted of course in spreading resources to thin, diminishing meeting SLAs on both systems, and then the employees picking up the slack being judged for not meeting what multiple people were doing before. After years of this, the weight of 5 or more resources were being carried by individual burnt out people who had no hope for improvement or any chance at success. The company has not been releasing products internally instead acquiring other companies to bolster their product lines temporarily while showing no faith in existing engineering teams. Senior leadership would not support the suggestions that were needed to resolve issues, especially with acquired companies. D&I was a meaningful program focused on policy, benefits, and was supposed to offer a path to leadership skills and promotions. Now it is just words. The real programs no longer offer hope to employees and are used for marketing to investors and colleges.