VMware reviews

All the way to the top, the worst management and culture I have ever experienced. Too bad, because a great product!

Recent years, despite financial success/growth, have been challenging at VMW. There are various reasons. To me there are three top level factors in the company's decline from a top place to work: (1) "Stock advocates" putting pressure on EMC to sell of VMW to "unlock" share holder value. (2) Aggressive and (seeming) directionless drive to develop the next growth technology. (3) Infiltration of "Good Old Boy" management. The affects of each of factors are subtle and significant by themselves, but very impactful together. (1) Forces cost control and places a premium on a "need to move quickly" to hold off the advocates. This drives poor planing, staffing (no hiring in certain places, forced multi time zone teams), and a shotgun approach to product development, leading to poor execution. This puts tremendous pressure on the employees, making it a less desirable place to work, proven by high sr mgmt and engineering turn over in the last year. Replacement mgmt comes brings outside cultures, which can be good depending on where it comes from, but turned out bad for VMW (good old boys and empire builders that were laid off from "successful companies").