For Ten Years Politics has been 75% of the Job.
Pros
Unum has a great benefits package. You receive double the amount of vacation days an employee will typically get from a company, outside of the insurance industry. Bonus incentive program for all employees. Work from home option. Onsite company gyms. Family friendly event ticket giveaways to minor league sporting events. Great training opportunities. Great programs for employees who are very involved in community service activities, outside of United Way donations, you as an individual can leverage Unum’s charitable giving, for a cause you are passionate about. Great management/HR support for internal job opportunities posted, leadership programs, and mentorships. Great CEO and CFO leadership, the company is in good hands. Job security.
Cons
Working for a large insurance company is as soul crushing and joyless as it sounds. Managers are a bunch of talking heads, that provide little insight, and will drag you into an endless series of meetings, only to state generic, and painfully obvious statements, like “technology is important to the company’s growth.” The perception of your importance is the only thing that matters, and is solely based on your manager’s opinion of you, which can often be an emotional rollercoaster. As a result of this, you can never be honest, even on an “anonymous” work environment survey. The recognition/award system leaves a lot to be desired. The awards and recognitions are cheesy, and seen as a way of snubbing other employees/managers/teams/departments, and often go to the biggest toadies. Management not only encourages an extremely competitive environment, but drills it into your work culture with “everyone must be a leader” commitments, which has everyone competing for funny money, and 1% yearly cost-of-living increases. Work morale is low, as employees feel overworked, overtired, and unappreciated. Half the managers are megalomaniacs, who fly on the corporate jet a couple of times a year, to attend meetings catered by a low-grade foodservice. Which as an employee, you will receive emails, about the available food scraps you may have, after managers are done picking through them. You will go to one “corporate outing” a year, which is more of a mandatory attendance/forced event rather than an event employees look forward to, this overshadows the spirit and effort of it all. All of this is considered the “Unum culture”, and will be shoved down your throat, with the attitude of “you are lucky to get even that” and “look for a new job.” All of this may impact your long-term career development goals depending on your ambitions and needs.