I don't know how many people here have had the chance to work for a company that is being integrated into a parent company, but hopefully you guys can vouch. It's not that I didn't believe corporate ruins everything, but it just always felt exaggerated for TV/movies because I'd never seen it for myself.
I started working for a financing company a few months after it was acquired, but before it was at all integrated into the parent company. Things were great and there actually was a “big family” work culture. Great PTO, floating holidays, good pay, upward mobility, everyone happy, etc.
I've been here for over a year now and boy how things have changed.
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Our in-house IT was working on integrating our intranet system into what corporate uses. This burned out the head of IT and he retired 8 months post-acquisition. His father literally started the company with the CEO's father. Our second IT guy took over for him quit 9 months after he took over (16 months post-acquisition). We now no longer have an IT department and need to send “support tickets” to people working 1,000 miles away who can't help in-person.
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Our Sales department has grown, but they have now loosened restrictions on who can get loans, all so corporate can see larger numbers. This results in the Processing department becoming overworked even though they're the largest department in the company by a long-shot (near 20 people) as they're constantly pushing through more and more deals. They've lost at least 3 people who have been here for years, and a few new people who noped the fuck out.
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Accounting hasn't grown by a single person since I started (and my hiring was filling an empty position). We have 3 people, 4 if you count our CFO who's been here nearly two decades and is also retiring at the end of December due to burnout. His position is being absorbed by corporate, which means the Controller who's been here for over a decade doesn't get a promotion after all. Zero room for growth anymore.
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Our Collections department is feeling the effects of the “rubber stamping” going on in Sales and Processing, where tons of new borrowers aren't making monthly payments because they should've never been given loans. We hired someone for Collections and he lasted a day.
I am in awe by how incompetent a seemingly successful and large company can be. They come in, try to fix things that aren't broken, and start treating everybody working for their subsidiary as subhuman. Tons of people in my office are getting burnt out, myself included. Corporate just continues to demand more but won't get us the help we need. All the while their people at the top get richer while minimizing expenses. It's at the point where we struggle to keep new employees while bleeding people who have been here for years.
If your small company gets acquired by even a small corporation, run. I promise what they say about corporate ruining everything is absolutely true. We have tons of people looking for new jobs, nobody is as happy anymore, everybody is stressed out all the time. This used to be a relaxed place. Not anymore.