Would Not Recommend - Interior Designer Vida Design Employee Review

2.0
16 Apr 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are some truly wonderful, kind, talented people at Vida. They also offer full benefits.

Cons

I found the culture at Vida to be surface level at best. It seemed that you were either part of the inner group, or not. And yes, they do consider themselves a "family", and everyone who works for them "unicorns". While I worked at Vida I felt that I was watching my peers be overlooked for promotions they were well qualified for, be burned out and laid off. Layoffs were discussed as something that other "corporate" firms did, and in my time there they even touted that they were able to avoid layoffs in the past. I only learned towards the end of my time that layoffs have actually occurred and continue to, even impacting senior staff. I felt that clients were very transparently prioritized over their own employees. Managers and principals over promised client's unrealistic deadlines that fell on the designers to pick up. My experience seemed to show that having to log back on after the regular workday to pick up a last-minute request or task, needing to work overnight, or over 40 hours (without overtime pay), were common events. I spent the majority of my time working well beyond my capacity and still felt that I wasn't even close to working enough. The management that I worked under seemed disorganized and overworked themselves. If I wasn't working late due to a last-minute request, I was working late due to an issue related to project management. Managers repeatedly asked for training requests, including via forms and surveys, and promised future training and advancement opportunities that never came to fruition. Any time that I asked to be a part of a committee, mentor opportunity, or attempted to grow outside of my "role", I would be told that my job title was too low level, or that I needed to be "selected". Opportunities to advance were few and far between, often leaving me with the sense that they weren't committed to their employee's growth as individuals or within the company. While the full benefits package is truly great, it does feel like a minimum for a standard corporate job. The pay breaks even with industry standards without being competitive. I also experienced picking up work for staff senior to me while they were on an extended leave, without prior discussion or training, and without any change in compensation, on more than one occasion.

Explore other reviews about Vida Design

5.0
29 Feb 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people and leadership team. Overall a very friendly and inclusive place to work.

Cons

Some work can be monotonous and repetitive

2.0
17 Apr 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of fun projects. Very pretty office with some nice amenities. Looked forward to going in. Good benefits. Can work hybrid. Starting PTO for a new employee was 20 days! (including holidays)

Cons

- The training was very choppy. There was a lot of a learn-as-you-go mentality. I always heard the quote, "You just have to mess up, and then you will learn." - The company is still relatively new, and I think that played into how all over the place some of their processes are. They have done layoffs frequently, so please be aware of that! (even senior managers and designers getting laid off after being there for YEARS) - Some coworkers' severance packages when they were laid off were as little as $500. - The pay was quite low, I had to beg to still end up getting paid less than $50k - Promotions are hard to attain as they are based not only on performance but also on business demand. You have to time your employment perfectly with when the business is at its peak to expect any type of promotion, regardless of how hard you work. (There were some Procurement Assistants in the role for a few years and did great work that still have yet to be promoted.) - The culture on the surface was great and fun, but it was very cliquey. If you weren't in you would just be alone. - While the work schedule is decent you are expected to be able to hit all deadlines, not matter the holiday or your PTO. Some nights, I worked until 9 p.m. because I had to stumble through so much of my work because I wasn't trained properly. - NO OVERTIME PAY - You are really just left to fend for yourself. I was thrown into the deep end my first week, and nothing was explained. On top of that, they laid off the one person in procurement who was working on creating training modules (lol)

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