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Was a good company. RIP post Broadcom acquisition and CEO's attitude. - Director, Engineering VMware Employee Review

1.0
9 Dec 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Excellent products. Structured approach and domination in the virtualisation technology.

Cons

Too many acquisitions by other companies. Most people do not approve of the current CEO (Raghu Raghuram) who has destroyed the company's legacy and stature that former CEO (Patrick P. Gelsinger; current CEO of Intel Corp.) had built over several years. Organisational Politics. The senior management does not give any insight, clarity of direction to employees including the most senior employees. News of acquisition comes as a surprise to all employees including the ones working at SVP, VP or Director level. Ever since the company went public in November 2021, it was announced by the CEO that VMware will operate independently now. But in April, when the CEO and top management was denying all rumours of acquisition by Broadcom, the CEO drops a bomb via email to all employees of the company that Broadcom will be acquiring them. This followed the cycles of massive lay-offs contributing to the typical acquisition process of Broadcom. I can only say that it used to be a great company but post Broadcom acquisition, it will be seeing massive lay-offs (that is already in process) and soon like other brands that Broadcom acquired and destroyed (CA, Brocade, Symantec; etc.); it will destroy VMware on the whole too. Not to forget the unethical business practices of Broadcom such as stock options backdating and anti-competitive practices for which Broadcom has already been fined heavily in the past.

Explore other reviews about VMware

5.0
24 Jun 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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