VDC Research Reviews

Current Employee – been working at VDC Research full-time

Pros – Most of the employees are genuine, hard working people. It's a small company (and getting smaller...) so it comes with the expected small office gossip and drama, but also with the luxury of collaboration and comradery. Lack of resources is stressful and overload to individuals who have to do double or triple the workload, but also allows them to take on more responsibility. Covering niche markets. Somewhat impressive client list.

Cons – CEO and management flip flop on promises and expectations often. Vow to grow company then have massive layoff. Vow to increase morale and then take away all the initial perks and have inappropriate blowouts with fellow management members in the office. Do not reward employees for their work. Changed review process to hold reviews and raises once a year and then failed to hand out any raises. All of these negative actions are making employees question future of company.

Advice to Senior Management – Be upfront with employees. Closed door meetings and fights with one another will cause employees to feel unsafe and exit. Value your employees by SHOWING it. A big stink about increasing morale was made almost a year ago and almost all of those steps taken have been reversed. The snack bar was even emptied (which further begs the question about just how bad the company is doing...) A lot of our big clients are starting to think we're a joke. Schedule performance is abominable, responses to some emails are non existent. Obvious disconnect between sales/research and CEO micro managing make us look chaotic and unprofessional.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at VDC Research

Pros – can learn a lot about topics you cover
have some flexibility in structure of research
senior staff have flexibility in areas of coverage
interesting intelligent coworkers
some flexibility for time off

Cons – inconsistant management, some with high people skills, lower business acumen; some with strong business skills and low people skills
limited chances for promotion
low pay for the profession
low morale

Advice to Senior Management – Employee morale would be improved by either higher compensation or a better work environment than your competition. Now that the work environment has become more corporate and less desirable, it no longer offsets the lower than average compensation. Management strengths and weaknesses should be evaluated when deciding areas of responsibility in order to retain the best employees and make the best strategy decisions.

Current Employee – been working at VDC Research full-time

Pros – Fun, smart people in the trenches. You'll learn a lot about niche technology and the work/life balance is decent. Great place to learn to the business for a year or two before moving on to greener pastures.

Cons – It's a family business and is run as such. Senior management has no passion, company has no brand, and career opportunities are non-existent. Being smart and ambitious is generally not rewarded at VDC.

Advice to Senior Management – Instead of writing anonymous positive reviews of your firm on websites, take what your employees are saying to heart. Culture and attitude is a direct reflection of leadership.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at VDC Research

Pros – High level of support from colleagues
Flexible work schedule
Good benefits package

Cons – Low morale
Management creates suffocating environment
High staff turnover

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend