Pros
Benefits were good, people were generally friendly, work was mostly enjoyable. I had imagined that this would be a company that I would retire from.
Kontras
About 4-5 years ago the company shifted focus dramatically toward DEI. On the surface, not a big deal but in reality it represented a shift away from VMware as a technology leader and toward VMware as a social justice company. Given that VP bonus was tied to DEI metrics, I found myself restricted on who I could hire for positions. This meant that I had to engage in discrimination in who I was able to consider for roles, and found myself "dumbing down" my hiring criteria due to lack of applicants who fit the "correct" DEI requirements. For a variety of reasons (and covid was a huge catalyst), general morale and work ethic seemed to decline greatly over the past few years. It became increasingly difficult to get anything meaningful accomplished in day-to-day work. The products themselves became increasingly bloated and buggy, plus the overall business strategy became muddled (specifically the cloud strategy). VMware recognized the need to transform from a "product" company towards a "services" company but simply lacked the ability to successfully transition. Major transformations require agility and ability to adapt products quickly, which is simply not possible for companies that have allowed themselves to become complacent.