Pros
There are some truly wonderful, kind, talented people at Vida. They also offer full benefits.
Cons
I found the culture at Vida to be surface level at best. It seemed that you were either part of the inner group, or not. And yes, they do consider themselves a "family", and everyone who works for them "unicorns". While I worked at Vida I felt that I was watching my peers be overlooked for promotions they were well qualified for, be burned out and laid off. Layoffs were discussed as something that other "corporate" firms did, and in my time there they even touted that they were able to avoid layoffs in the past. I only learned towards the end of my time that layoffs have actually occurred and continue to, even impacting senior staff. I felt that clients were very transparently prioritized over their own employees. Managers and principals over promised client's unrealistic deadlines that fell on the designers to pick up. My experience seemed to show that having to log back on after the regular workday to pick up a last-minute request or task, needing to work overnight, or over 40 hours (without overtime pay), were common events. I spent the majority of my time working well beyond my capacity and still felt that I wasn't even close to working enough. The management that I worked under seemed disorganized and overworked themselves. If I wasn't working late due to a last-minute request, I was working late due to an issue related to project management. Managers repeatedly asked for training requests, including via forms and surveys, and promised future training and advancement opportunities that never came to fruition. Any time that I asked to be a part of a committee, mentor opportunity, or attempted to grow outside of my "role", I would be told that my job title was too low level, or that I needed to be "selected". Opportunities to advance were few and far between, often leaving me with the sense that they weren't committed to their employee's growth as individuals or within the company. While the full benefits package is truly great, it does feel like a minimum for a standard corporate job. The pay breaks even with industry standards without being competitive. I also experienced picking up work for staff senior to me while they were on an extended leave, without prior discussion or training, and without any change in compensation, on more than one occasion.