Outdated, toxic, resistant to change - Anonymous employee Vienna Insurance Group Employee Review

- The company operates with an outdated, post-soviet and often unethical approach to leadership, communication, and overall management. - Some managers frequently breach professional standards, including the use of offensive language toward junior employees. Multiple complaints have been raised with HR, yet no corrective action has been taken. Instead, HR tends to justify such behaviour as part of a “fast-paced, results-driven environment,” effectively enabling toxic practices. Management openly frames new hires as being “tested” to eliminate the so-called weaker ones, which creates a culture of fear rather than growth. - Onboarding and employee support are minimal, with little to no structure in place. There is no culture of constructive feedback, and gossip is widespread, leading to a negative and demotivating work environment. - Despite the company’s long history, internal operations remain surprisingly chaotic. There are no clearly defined cross-functional processes, ownership structures, success metrics, or scalable systems. Collaboration across the Baltic region remains ineffective, as managers still lack the ability to operate on an international level. Most decisions and processes are handled strictly at a country level as this is how they used to work previously. - Communication practices are outdated. Modern collaboration tools (e.g. using channels) are dismissed by upper management, who view them as “spam.” As a result, asynchronous or written communication is poorly executed, making alignment unnecessarily difficult. - The technical equipment provided is of very poor quality. Specialists are often given outdated laptops that are barely operational, forcing employees to rely on external peripherals just to perform basic tasks. - Business travel arrangements are also below standard. Employees are expected to travel up to five hours by car on the same day as events, with no flexibility to arrive earlier, raising concerns about both efficiency and well-being. - Overall, the company’s culture is negative, disorganised, and resistance to modern practices. If you come from modern, forward-looking companies, the environment will likely feel regressive and draining,