Great place to work despite lousy work-from-home & time-off policies
Pros
MathWorks is a great place to work. Roles can be challenging, "crunch" is pretty rare for most positions, and you're working with qualified, smart people. Managers are effective. There is plenty of room for growth in most roles, and the mechanisms for receiving and providing feedback are strong. The company culture is good, though it's not the stereotypical 'Silicon Valley' type culture that might be typical of other software companies. Pay is competitive or on the higher side when accounting for bonuses. There is a generally good work/life balance, and while there isn't a lot of vacation time, most positions have sensible hours and it's rare that you'll be interrupted on the weekends or during your own time. The direction of the company seems positive. MathWorks has a positive social agenda, and the company is open to feedback. Overall, it is a great place to work.
Cons
The work-from-home policy and time off policies are really bad. It's not just that the policy is bad -- 3 work from home days a year -- it is that the culture around the policy is toxic. Despite that very few people ever work from home, when somebody does work from home, there is a constant suspicion from managers and peers throughout the company. The policy itself, 3 days a year, is very restrictive and not flexible at all, but because the company has such a strict policy about working from home, this has become a culture issue as well. The policy for sick time is similar. While the policy is 'unlimited' there is a cultural stigma against using sick time and an unwritten but passively enforced policy against being "too sick." The company has gotten slightly better with this, as now partial sick days can be used for doctors appointments, which wasn't the case until recently. The vacation policy is lacking as well. Employees can earn 15 days a year from years 1-5, and then earn 1 extra day between years 6-10, and then receive 5 earned days after 15 years. This makes a very slow climb even after you've been at the company longer than the industry average.