Capital One is a "Monet" - pretty from a distance, a big mess up close
Pros
Work/life balance - associates are allowed to work from home when needed (at "manager's discretion" of course; if your manager's a jerk, good luck). Capital One also pays fairly well and encourages associates to volunteer regularly. I think your experience at this company really depends on your role and the organization you report into. It only takes one senior leader to make your department miserable. I switched departments a few years ago and was relatively happy before. But not now!
Cons
The company is unstable, quietly laying off over 700 associates last October; this is the third round of layoffs since I began work there in 2010. Attrition has been extremely high at the Sr. Leadership level; over half of the CEO's direct reports are new to the company within the last few years. Of course any turnover is always followed by the "everything's fine" email or meeting. The health benefits are also horrible. Extremely high (over $1k a month for a family) monthly premiums, PLUS a deductible, PLUS 20% coinsurance. And that's their best plan! Anyone with ongoing medical problems knows that's completely unaffordable. The performance management system is garbage too, forcing associates into "distribution buckets" (you could be an awesome worker, but if they need someone to go into the "inconsistent" bucket, it could be you!). Capital One preaches diversity of thought and it's always about "the associates" in the annual strategy meetings, but it's all a bunch of b.s. The dumb ones just eat it up, though! For the record, I'm super low on the totem pole. I've always been rated a v. strong or strong and have no issues with my manager. I'm just not stupid, I see the writing between the lines and I don't feed into the crap that others do. If you don't work in Richmond (their biggest campus) you miss out on 90% of the "perks" that make this company one of "Fortune 100's Best Companies to Work For".