Pros
Despite my opinions below, I wouldn't be where I am now had I not worked for VES. I made some really great friends there and do genuinely miss working with a lot of them. It's a great place to learn how not to run a business. They have some really good employees and it's such a shame they are not invested in, positioned or empowered to shine through the murky storm cloud that surrounds upper management. This usually ends with complete demoralisation and ultimately the loss of a good experienced employee.
Cons
The key thing that is overlooked is the that lower level employees are the cogs that keep the business turning, whilst being genuinely overworked and under valued, having to constantly re-plan a massively overloaded capacity based production plan and provide quarterly forecasts twice a week will eventually take it's toll on the most tolerant of employees. The management structure is convoluted, top heavy and harbours allot of deadwood, especially when you consider the fact that the 'managers' are not empowered to manage their team effectively. The directors are ultimately responsible for making (and undermining) management level decisions and are usually nowhere to be found. The complete disregard for product quality never ceased to amaze me and continued to spiral out of control until the day that I left. This is a problem that is so inherent and deeply ingrained into the way VES operate on a day-to-day basis it is my firm belief things will never change (for the better at least) without a full buyout.
