Pros
QA is deeply integrated in product development and not an afterthought. They offer the best private medical subscription in the city, plus a life insurance that compensates additional medical costs. The medical subscription extends to spouses and children. The work day is somewhat flexible, with understanding from management when one needs to take a couple hours off for personal matters. There is also the possibility of wfh when one is too sick to come into the office, a few times a year. Also there is full understanding for medical leave or family emergencies, with free days being approved even in less than 12h when there is a real emergency. In the years I have worked here there wasn’t any time off that i asked for that wasn’t approved. People who return from maternity leave are always found positions if their old ones aren’t available anymore and reintegrated fully into the company. Some people even left the company and came back because the work environment and the coworkers are really great.
Cons
WFH has been more and more limited, with promises it won’t get worse and then it gets worse. Currently it has gotten to the point of 3 mandatory days at the office that are fixed per team and can only be switched a few times throughout the year for important reasons and with management approval in advanced. While they promise it won’t get to 4 days, the trust has been broken and I am convinced it will get to that in a year or 2. The whole approach to back to the office has been very crab submerged into gradually boiling water. While there has been a lot of push back from most teams against the 3 mandatory days, the company reply, in many evasive words, has been that they don’t care. The company used to be much more receptive to employees feedback 4-5 years back. There is an unspoken policy that if you are good at your position, you are almost never allowed to leave your project, even if you ask. I know people who have left because of this, and I myself was not allowed to move on an empty role because that was “easier to hire” than it would have been mine. The only people who I know were able to switch projects was when either when one was ending/moving from this location, so the people on that project could move on a newer one, or when people left on maternity leave and came back and their previous positions has been replaced. A lot of the positions are underpaid to market value, but for a lot of people the medical benefits outweigh this. There is no parking offered except for management. Public parking is difficult to find as it’s a very office crowded area. The closest subway stations are at about 15 minutes walk, which is not great when it rains. A lot of people consider the position a good point because it’s city central, but the traffic is crazy all hours of the day and the public transport is lacking. Company used to offer team-buildings, but now it’s just a few in office cheap feeling events with some sweets/pizza that often times aren’t even enough for everyone.