To put it briefly...
Refusal to give acquired employees pay reviews, return-to-office policy, virtue signalling, sexism, ageism, ableism, narcissistic CEO, lack of trust towards employees, greenwashing.
To go into more detail...
My company was acquired by OpenText. OT treat us so poorly that our department has had many employees quit since the acquisition.
My former company had a remote-first policy. Many employees had moved houses further away from the office. We had hired many graduates from all over the country, some in different countries altogether. Immediately after acquisition OT demanded that all these employees uproot their lives to return to the office.
For us in the UK who were going through a cost-of-living and housing crisis at the time, this was especially challenging. It was long before any of us could make an informed decision about whether OT as a company was worth making such a sacrifice for during especially difficult economic circumstances. No leeway was offered, OT were cutthroat. Comply, or lose your job. Unsurprisingly, the only choice for many people was to leave before they got fired.
After that, almost all of us who stayed were rewarded by being refused pay reviews and raises. Because of this I am now being horribly underpaid for the work I do when compared to my peers who work for other companies. As someone who is early in my career this has been extremely disruptive to me progressing in life e.g. buying my first house and getting married.
OT speak often of their inclusive goals and their concern for the environment whilst taking actions which are to the detriment of these goals.
They deflect and avoid actioning very real criticism by hiding behind awards they have received, you can see this in various responses to similar criticisms here on Glassdoor. It's blatant virtue signalling, not only in terms of employee treatment but also in terms of creating an inclusive environment towards minority groups.
Regarding the latter point, some examples include:
- During the most recent International Women's Day meeting which included the CEO, the conversation devolved into ageism and generational essentialism.
- CEO often makes inappropriate jokes which feature women. One time he joked about one of his coworkers having incestual sexual relations with their own sister live in front of thousands of customers.
- OT claims to not want to create any barriers for people to flourish within the company but nonetheless implemented the "one-size-fits-all" return-to-office policy which is inherently a barrier to neurodivergent employees and anyone else who works less effectively in a traditional office environment.
- The CEO commands meetings which are meant to elevate the voices of minority groups, for example meetings during International Women's Day and Black History Month. He talks over his guest speakers.
OT will call you their family. The reality is that they want the undying loyalty and trust that you may offer your family members. They do not offer you the same in return. They are a business (and a cutthroat one at that). Just look through their replies on Glassdoor to see them justifying their cutthroat business decisions. Sure, business is business and I understand that, but do any of you treat your family like that?
If you're thinking of working for OT because of the illusion that they provide a friendly, flexible and inclusive environment which treats employees like humans instead of resources, think again. They are the same as all the other large tech businesses. If your company gets acquired by OT, be very afraid.
