AWFUL DEGRADATING TREATMENT (AVOID AT ALL COSTS) - Project Manager Vistatec Employee Review

First of all, a word of warning: Do not ignore any of the bad reviews on this site, I did, and I deeply regret it, because by taking on a role at Vistatec I found myself in one of the most difficult situations I had to deal with in my adult life. The positive reviews are nothing but a ridiculously obvious forgery carried out by the company’s managers in a desperate attempt to wash away its terrible (well deserved) reputation. There are so many things that are fundamentally wrong with Vistatec that I don’t even know where to start. Granted, the localisation industry is a challenging and highly competitive sector, and also granted, LSPs tend to be demanding work environments, but Vistatec is on a league of its own. To begin with, this is the type of company that allows its clients to run its business (a classic of bad business practices): no standard procedures, every client’s own particular demands are accommodated for, no matter how unreasonable. And quite honestly, clients are not to be blamed, they only expect what the signed up for, if you sell an unrealistic service, you get unrealistic expectations, and who pays for it? Answer: those at the bottom, who are under enormous pressure from middle management to deliver what cannot be done without a minimum set of conditions: a reasonable schedule, tools that work, available resources, etc. Soon I realized that initiative and a drive to change and improve things would always be met with disapproval. The more or less explicit answer was always “you’d better obey, don’t question the way things have always been done, do as you’re told, and do not air your thoughts, or you’ll be in trouble”. This is not a company you can bring experience and insight to. As someone put it to me in private, “knowledge and experience in the sector counts for nothing here, what you need to know is how things work at Vistatec”. This policy is reflected in the staff: project management and basic project coordination are carried out by very young people with little or no experience, mostly from foreign countries with high unemployment rates (Spain, Italy, Eastern Europe), because they have no bargaining power, and they need that experience on their CVs (the only reason that could possibly justify working at Vistatec). Someone figured out that this kind of workforce would be docile, unquestioning and accepting of sub-standard pay (their salaries are scandalously low for the ever growing cost of living in Dublin), and that’s the HR policy they went for. That someone also figured out that middle-management was best in the hands of middle-aged Irish people with little or no understanding of the translation process (most of them don’t even speak a foreign language), and whose mediocrity guarantees their loyalty (their only merits are having been there long enough and their inability to get a better job somewhere else). In short: This is a company for yes-men and yes-women, not for someone who wants to make a difference, and have a career progression (the opportunities for promotion are close to 0). As a result of which, there is little incentive to improve the way things are done, and nothing ever does, indeed. Dated, and ridiculously complicated, cumbersome, time-consuming and unreliable tools and processes are used as devices for procrastination and gas-lightning. Vistatec is a psychology textbook case of toxic work environment, most members of staff end up adopting a passive-aggressive attitude that’s a far cry from the most basic team spirit that should be expected at any minimally efficient organization. Even the facilities are dismal (the carpet is filthy!). There is something nightmarish about the place, going to work every day was a horrible experience. If this doesn’t make for a pretty picture, to make matters worse, Vistatec tolerates (and I would dare say, encourages) bullying at the work place. HR is aware of the situation and does nothing about it. I guess the reason is they use bullying as a psychological technique to break people down, undermine their confidence and exert total control over them, but it didn’t work with me. I am no spring chicken, I’ve been in the wars and have worked in really terrible places under enormous amounts of stress; I’m not a millennial snowflake that can’t take pressure, criticism, and antagonism, but the constant, relentless, insidious and vindictive form of harassment I had to put up with from my manager at Vistatec was just too much to take, and the job was just not worth keeping. The case should have been reported to the Irish Workplace Relations Commission, but it was made clear to me that I would not get the company’s backing on this, so I had no choice but to walk out on the job, because it was beginning to take a big toll on my mental and physical health, so I did. Believe me, I have never walked out on a job and into unemployment before, it’s not an easy decision, but I’m really glad I left that hellhole.