Pros
- Job security - No layoffs, very few firings, rare performance improvement plans. If you can settle for the low pay, this could be a worry-free job for life. Headcount is reduced through natural attrition. Keep in mind you can get similar job security with better benefits and pay in government work. - Work/life balance - There is little to no overtime, and the culture is fairly laid back. you will very rarely work over 40 hours a week. - Fantastic low level management - The company promotes from within, so they understand issues you face very well. They were in your shoes before. - Good health plan - The company covers 85% of several decent BCBS plans. - Good PTO - 3 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of sick time, 1.5 personal days, as well as holidays. Additional week of vacation for every 5 years worked. - Decent career track - All promotions are from within, so you could be in management in under 5 years. - There is a big push for diversity and inclusion. LGBT representation is pretty solid.
Cons
- Terrible compensation - This is a deal breaker. New developers are receiving total comp ~40k below market, senior developers are getting ~60k or more below market. The lowest offer I received of the companies I applied to, paid 167k total comp. Compare that to the 104k total comp I received here... As a prospective employee, evaluate developer salaries using the current "Software Developer" and "Lead Software Developer" titles. I can confirm the ranges are accurate as of 11/19/2021. - Proprietary technologies - Another deal breaker. They used to have a 'grow all tech in-house' mindset, but insufficient resources dedicated to growing said tech. The result is outdated and inefficient technologies decades behind the curve. If joining, only work for a group using exclusively modern technologies. - Variable coworker skills - Job security is a double-edged sword. Under-performing employees are shuffled around groups rather than being let go. Some lifers have stagnated for years and will refuse to adapt to new technologies. Prepare to argue against "doing things the way we've always done it" repeatedly. On the transfer note, high performers are prevented from moving for 5 months or more. Doing your job well means not being able to pursue exciting opportunities in a reasonable time. - Time tracking - There is widely unpopular time tracking, down to the 15 minute granularity. - Tone deaf senior management - We had a botched return to work during which safety measures were encouraged but not enforced, leading many to ignore both. Search "Meditech ice cream" on Youtube to see how out of touch some measures were. Management chose to freeze salaries company-wide for 1-2 years and have lost many people. They sent positive messages about solid profits to keep morale up, though. - Declining benefits- Holidays were removed in favor of a PTO system. This means you now need to call out for holidays, MIGHT not get the days off, and definitely won't receive holiday pay or on-call bonus pay. Unlimited PTO was removed for all but the executives. The health plan coverage is down from 90% to 85%. For the past 1.5 years (or 2 if you made over 100k) salaries were frozen. Education reimbursement was removed for a year. Bonus percent payments were cut in half. A 401k plan was added because new hires heavily requested it, but it's with an expensive company (Prudential) and has no company matching.