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Only skill you learn is how to manage stress. - QA Engineer VMware Employee Review

1.0
13 Nov 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

great coworkers/friends Fun parties Casual wear

Cons

Horrible management , nothing is for certain, no one can make up their mind about best practices so it is constantly changing. managers are too busy in meetings and customer issues to actually manage. Most managers came into their position by luck as the company grew so rapidly and are not qualified to lead (i.e no people/management skills) training. The onboarding is sales oriented, and after that you are basically thrown in the fire(tradefloor) and moved around to where they need a body. Once you are hired you are treated as a warm body, not an employee with skills and assets. They don't utilize employees' knowledge and experience effectively and QA is a flat organization, where 90% of people are only hired to do manual mobile app test, AKA press buttons on a phone. Most QAs are not gaining any useful technical skills through this experience. Workload is insane and unrealistic. No work life balance. There is always some fire/customer issue that needs attention now. it is a joke to call R&D agile. A lot of un-professionalism, where people talk crap about/to each other, It is the result of giving a bunch of kids fancy titles and power. A lot of room for slacking, 10% of the QAs carry the wight of the department while the others come in and go as they please and goof around. No one is really tracked. There is no repercussions for un-professionalism and not doing your job.

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VMware Response
11y
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We have been experiencing rapid growth over the last 3 years. This type of growth enables us to add more roles and responsibilities to high performing employees. We have a good mix of Jr and Sr level managers that we will continue to invest in through learning and development programs.

Explore other reviews about VMware

5.0
24 June 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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