Nepotism, and No Direction.
Pros
Free fruit once a week.
Cons
ARM was once a great place to work, but things have changed significantly since the MBO. Communication from leadership is poor and often causes more harm than good. A clear example was an all-staff email about a mandatory office meeting with only a week’s notice. It caused panic about potential layoffs, prompting a rushed follow-up from HR to say no one was losing their jobs. Then on Monday, they announced redundancies. It was awkward, confusing, and poorly handled. There’s also a noticeable issue with nepotism. Some employees, often family members of board members, seem to be protected from performance expectations or job cuts, even when they don’t contribute much. At the same time, strong-performing leaders and directors were let go, which didn’t make sense to the wider team. Despite financial struggles, the company didn’t focus on improving sales performance. Instead of addressing underperformance on the sales floor, they removed operational leaders who actually motivated and supported the team. This damaged morale even more. Lastly, decisions from the CEO over the past couple of years have felt erratic and damaging to the business. Anyone who challenges the direction or offers ideas for improvement risks being pushed out. There’s a culture of "agree or disappear," which isn’t healthy for long-term growth.
