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Great company, tons of potential, but management needs tweaking. - Senior QA Engineer VMware Employee Review

3.0
May 12, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Interesting technologies to work with Industry leadership - cutting edge Smart engineers Flexible work schedule Good options if you started pre-IPO Company provides snacks & drinks, bagels on Wednesday, beer on Fridays

Cons

Highly political, bureaucratic organization separated into fiefdoms Professional goals of the employee are usually ignored Top-down management - i.e. big picture is often hidden from view, as a means to control who provides input. Knowledge sharing between groups and even between team members is non-existent Culture is not collaborative enough - everyone is an island unto themselves Does not function as meritocracy - opportunities for advancement carefully controlled & divided out to a select few whether they deserve them or not. Some engineers can be a bit arrogant.

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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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