Pros
Bear was a great place to work when it came to using new technologies, broadening your skills, and having a lot of career opportunities. I started off as a relatively junior software programmer; in the course of just under 8 years I had been promoted to Associate Director and was doing some really incredible work. The company also had a lot of great people working there who I really enjoyed spending my days with.
Cons
In its final year or two, the company had turned into a meat grinder much like Goldman Sachs. 70-hour weeks were typical for me, along with loads of stress and ridiculously tight delivery deadlines. After putting in all that effort and making myself known as a stellar employee, the company laid me off along with several hundred others in the biggest such layoff the company had ever done. Four months later they were gone and absorbed by JP Morgan Chase.