Pros
By and large the company’s ranks are filled with genuinely good and competent people who do their jobs well. The company’s mission statement is virtuous. The CEO is a nice, approachable man. The benefits were solid, the perks were good, the facilities were nice enough and you got the sense that everyone who worked there cared about what they did. In my role I was able to work on things I never got to work on before, for which I’m immensely grateful. I gained very valuable work and technical experience working there. My teammates were good, very hard working people. I did experience a bit of ‘social mobility’ by way of promotions. There were company events and parties which were great camaraderie-builders.
Cons
One could make a small game out of how often they hear the term "nights and weekends" thrown around. Like on a road trip and trying to keep count of how many times they see out of state license plate or wild animals. One can understand that 'nights and weekends' are called for and justified, sometimes and here and there, but not 52 weeks out of the year though. Then it starts to be perceived as gaslighting. Unethical exploitation of supervisors was also something that took place. Meaning if someone recruits staff, trains them, does all of their 1:1s, does their performance reviews, sets their goals and keeps track of all of their projects - why wouldn't said staff's relationship with their supervisor be that they report to them on the organization chart? Why would they report to a manager who has zero interaction with them? It seems ludicrous and very unfair because it is. There were murmurs of how some C-level staff were 'cheap' when it came to certain things. The front atrium of the building is furnished with what looks to be Ikea dorm room furniture. All of the walls are white without anything (except for one with a big poster of the company picture... from 3 years ago) at all to break up the space. It would behoove C-level staff to hire an interior decorator for the next building they reside in. While the company did purchase and provide clothing or 'swag' to their employees, it tended to be ill-fitting and made from cheaper material and from no-name brands. When one walks around Silicon Valley and Palo Alto, they can see many individuals walking around with jackets, vests or hoodies emblazoned with their company's logo and it'd be from a high-quality brand like North Face, Patagonia or LL Bean. People did chatter in the break room with comments like "Would it REALLY have broken the bank for the C-level staff to splurge and get their hard-working employees, who are responsible for the company's operation and existence, the best of the best when it came to the clothing they put on with the company's logo?"
