Pros
The people I interacted with at M&T Bank where uniformly professional. I saw very few politics or game playing. Work-life balance is good--I didn't witness many occasions of people, even senior management, getting into the office before 8 AM or leaving after 5:30 PM. Base salaries seem to be generally good--much higher than my previous employer job-for-job. Professional advancement is adequate--there seem to be ample opportunities for someone to move up with the right combination of skill and ambition.
Cons
Professional development was below average. Managers are not compensated on how they develop the people below them. I encountered numerous managers who didn't even conduct one-on-ones with their subordinates (aside from annual reviews). Skip-levels are unheard of. While base salary was decent, the bonus structure was inadequate. For the position I was in, 20-60% of base is customary, but M&T was offering 2-4% annual merit bonus. The technology and systems at M&T are woefully outdated. They are probably 20 years behind the cutting edge financial institutions. This problem is emblematic of a general reluctance to undergo change. Pushing through any substantive change at M&T takes an act of Congress, so if you've got a lot of good ideas, prepare to be either stymied or have it take 4-5 times longer to implement your ideas than you expect. Not to be overly nitpicky, but no coffee in the break rooms? C'mon! It's such a cheap perq that makes such a big difference.
