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With smart people and great technology, this company has a real chance...but needs fewer managers and better leaders. - Senior Member of Technical Staff VMware Employee Review

2.0
Sep 10, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Wonderful, well-loved, well-engineered, disruptive technology - Very intelligent coworkers - Reasonably pleasant atmosphere (beer bash on Friday's) - Decent amenities (subsidized gym, free drinks, snacks, decent on-site cafeteria, programs) - Decent hardware for developers - Emphasis on design / planning (sometimes too much) - Great brand name

Cons

- Too many layers of engineering management - Managers provide very little guidance/direction day-to-day or even release-to-release - Highly political engineering group, often to the detriment of the organization - Growing dissatisfaction amongst employees - Questionable decisions and acquisitions by senior management - Some lack of leadership/knowledge in non-systems technical disciplines - Culture has disintegrated since IPO and departure of founder

Explore other reviews about VMware

5.0
Jun 24, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

VMware is a big company but in many ways had a startup vibe. That was great because the resources and infrastructure of a big company were there, but it gave most people I worked with freedom to work on many projects, influence, move around, and contribute in many ways. Plus, many things moved faster than they might at other companies of the same size. Perks were really great including bonuses, events on the campus, opportunities, etc.

Cons

The biggest con is the annual layoff. During most of the years I was there, we were growing like crazy, beating expectations, gaining in stock price, etc. It was always positive and upward. However, every single January, it was known that there would be a round of layoffs, even when all numbers were looking great as they almost always were. Management called it restructuring. But, over the years, some really good people were let go for no apparent reason. Then to add insult to injury, a week or two later, there would be a company quarterly meeting discussing how VMware was doing so well and is still hiring, but they had to make some changes. It always felt dishonest and the sympathy for those let go came across as disingenuous.

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