Pros
You could work from home, but when in an office, most were in decent places that were accessible. Technical colleagues were good and you could build a network. If you were part of certain product groups, you could find yourself in a family, but that family was usually hated by Houston. I learned a lot, but it wasn't easy to manage; you were on your own.
Cons
Random huge layoffs, which made life too uncertain. Bob B. only cared about the last 1-2 acquisitions - older products were supposed to make money with no attention or support. The mainframe BU was considered just a cash cow - don't invest in it, don't respect the people doing the work. Politics was everything and it helped a lot to be from TX. When I started in '00, it was actually a culture of honesty, integrity and good intentions. It went downhill fast from there and now is sort of a cesspool.
