Pros
Anthem is at its core a typical large company. It has decent benefits. It is easier at Anthem for a high performer to be labeled as an achiever as the mean employee ability is average. There is a decent ability to move around within the company since it is a large company. Work life balance is fairly good due to the average drive of the employees to whom you will be compared. One does not need to work all the time in order to achieve the "expected" because on average other people clock-in and clock-out as well. People at the company are generally nice and one can form relationships that are broader than just work related. Vacation time is generally respected and encouraged. Management is generally polite and trying to get their assigned job responsibilities completed. Good culture and values are encouraged. There are lots of work opportunities and problems to solve.
Cons
Again, Anthem operates like the large company that it is in reality. Many of the cons, just like the pros, can be found in other large organizations as well. Please also note that all of these comments are GENERAL comments but actual experiences can definitely vary among different departments in the overall large company. High achievers might get frustrated at the company. For example, a very capable person might get frustrated if he/she is working with co-workers who have average abilities. The company moves very methodically which means that it has a lot of processes, tickets, and other red-tape instead of a high trust in its employees which proceeds a more dynamic environment. It can therefore be hard to be "agile" even though the company is attempting to enable "agile" development. In summary, this is again not like working for a consulting firm or small start-up. Many things are centralized and impersonal. "Help desk" support is more like contacting your phone line company support in India rather than asking a "co-worker" for help. Often the technical help desk is also lackluster. HR is centralized and often employees are not even familiar with their own HR representative to contact with any concerns. The performance reviews don't seem to mean or help that much. Bonuses are not very transparent and are not significantly tied to personal performance. Anthem laptops are not top of the line and are sometimes over-restricted for developers. System maintenance is more project and project-budget driven rather than 'system/product' ownership driven. This can lead to systems falling behind on general upgrades or improvements that are not directly related to a given business project. Anthem has a decent amount of lower-paid employees (call-center, claim processors, etc.) as well as higher-paid employees (Actuaries, IT, etc.). However, the core benefits are the same for all. As a result, the benefits are decent but are somewhat diluted as compared to companies that have primarily skilled workers. One typically sees this same phenomenon in retail or other large companies with similar employee mixes. IT used to be more open to flexible work arrangements. While this still exists, there is now a move towards not having as many flexible work arrangements (work at home, etc.). There is also a significant goal to move much of the IT organization to a few East Coast locations. Therefore, an individual who wishes to live in another location or have these type of work arrangements might want to take this into consideration. Technology within the company has lagged behind. Anthem is trying to catch up but being large tends to slow the technology upgrades. Company assets (laptops) are typically not allowed out of the country. So, anyone hoping to take their work with them on an international vacation will be disappointed. Of course, this is also a pro on the work-life balance end. Reorganizations are quite frequent. Don't get too attached to your management because it is likely to change soon. Management in IT is typically around for people and budget management more-so than to be a leader in a given department or expertise. When you hit an obstacle on an effort that exceeds your skill set, don't always expect a manager to actually help you fix the problem although they might help try to find someone who can help solve the problem. Project management in IT is typically more secretarial or date/budget driven. Project management typically does not help manage the actual project or help multi-faceted teams come together for a common goal. Instead, they will typically make sure that everyone is on their own schedule and not over budget. Flexible work areas in many office locations are sub-par. They often lack equipment and are often used by employees as a break area or to take personal calls or conversations. As such, many of these areas are not great for work to be accomplished. Some improvements are being made in some locations but again, it is slow progress. Like many large companies, Anthem relies heavily on vendors and external company support. This aids to slow movement and a lack of internal expertise. Benefits seem to be decreasing in recent years. Stock options were taken away. 401K matching was reduced. Health benefits have been reduced. PTO carryover has been further restricted. It doesn't seem like Anthem is moving towards better benefits.