Pros
Cornell has a lot to offer. It is the largest employer in the region and one of the only places where one can move from one department or role to another at the same employer. The benefits, including sick and vacation time, are quite good. Most of staff/faculty and the vast majority of students are wonderful to work with. There is a lot of opportunity to learn and grow professionally and even personally. There are issues and challenges here like anywhere (see below), but I am still optimistic and happy to work here. As someone who experienced a layoff here, I can confidently state that they handled it in the best way possible. I know corporate America would not have treated me so well as they let me go. And brought me back.
Cons
University leaders are out of touch with the rest of the staff, their needs & challenges. While they seek to balance the budget after years of mismanagement, they let staff go and expect remaining staff to work 2 or more jobs. In addition, it is such a large university it is almost impossible to guarantee consistency in promotions, job reviews, and policy enforcement across the campuses, or at least they have not figured out how to do it. People are often promoted to managers without training or ability, and then no one wants to address the issues caused among the employees.