Pros
* Nice coffee machine * Free bagels once a week * Yearly bonus for some * A few good people who help make the job bearable, until it's not
Cons
// Culture of fear and oppression // * No value placed on improving company culture or employee appreciation * The customer is not important unless they are paying millions * All customer-focused roles are marginalized or eliminated * Office environment is stark and boring; looks like the company just moved in though it's been at the same location for years * Conformity is valued, obedience required // Benefits // * Cheaper to get independent insurance. Company pays for next to nothing, despite having enough employees to get decent discounts * "Unlimited" vacation - purely up to your manager whether you have a single day off. Many people are working weekends to make up for poor planning in leadership // Ancient technology // * Code that needs a Rosetta Stone to be deciphered; architecture and infrastructure completely sidelined * Unskilled in-house dev, with a few quality people trying to hold it all together * Antiquated backend platform * Hundreds of bug fix releases per year, and a few big ones with limping, half-baked functionality // Product Development // * Product Managers are not empowered, same is true for SVPs unless they are part of the "in" crowd elbowing for absolute power * Cursory nod to planning and roadmaps * No accountability for failures in leadership * No long-term strategy or vision; execs too busy micromanaging * Major skills gaps evident in most departments, but company unable to train or hire * Business analysts converted en masse to Product managers * Wholesale conversion of backend devs to full stack plus QA and automation * QA and UX suddenly converted to developers * General lack of respect for employees' chosen career path and existing skills // Sinking ship // * High churn in Sales, Product, many other depts * Indiscriminate and frequent layoffs * Lots of outsourcing to India and elsewhere, always to the lowest bidder If you are a skilled or experienced knowledge worker, this is an extremely discouraging place to be.