Pros
Lots of places have their happy happy joy joy "corporate values" that is on the HR site and/or posted in the break room. Here, they actually DO it. While not unheard of but not that common, we have a catered lunch provided EVERY day and there are lots of snacks and a wide variety of drinks always available. The benefits are great and very low cost. Even special "events" such as (at the time of this writing) the kick off to Movember: They brought in a very well known barber shop, had a full on barber shop with chairs and the rest set up and had the full-on hot towel on the face straight razor shaves to get us started off clean and smooth into the month of moustache growing. That'll have been significant effort AND cost to do but it got people stoked and boosted the overall morale here. I noticed, even immediately after starting work here, that on any given day a low estimate of how many people are wearing corporate swag was about 1/3 of the population. In every other place I’ve worked, the people actually wearing corporate swag to the office were either those that had to wear corporate branding or happened to be the type of individual one would rather poke away with a sharp stick. Here, it is obvious that people at minimum like and more likely are proud to work here and happy to advertise that fact. To my mind, this is one of the most obvious barometers of employee morale. For all that the average human here is rather more relaxed and freewheeling than found in typical corporate America, I can, without reservation say that I have never worked with a finer group of people. The bobbles and foibles of any company notwithstanding, which we do have, everyone I have met and/or work with here is a consummate professional who are very good at what they do and are serious about it without taking themselves too seriously. Moreover, beyond the high caliber of professional stature, I consistently find kind, considerate, and interesting people to talk and work with who are just very pleasant to be around. Here's a shocker for a corporate population: They say "thank you". I am paid to do what I was hired for and in every other place I’ve worked, the implicit attitude is “be grateful you have your job”. I would work hard at what I do because I am paid to do it and I happen to be one of those lucky enough to enjoy the work he does. But… “thank you”???? And they mean it???? What a pleasant and, sadly, an increasingly unusual thing to hear. I suspect the other negative reviews came from those not in their careers long to compare this place to and realize it's pretty great or not good enough at what they do to survive in a fast moving, fast changing environment. I’ve had many jobs in which I was happy was proud of the work I did and enjoyed doing it. Here, I am proud, not only of the work I do, but also I am very proud of the company I work for. After all these years in the corporate world… this is a new thing for me.
Cons
For my part, there really AREN'T any real "cons" to working here. As the transition to a larger company evolves, there WILL be changing priorities, bootleg turns, and all other types of hubbub that can occur. Some may find that to be a con and want the plodding, inflexible, highly controlled, and drab type of work life. Many do and they should probably go work for a defence contractor where fun and spontaneity seem to be against corporate policies. However, for this reviewer, this is actually a plus and it keeps one's creative imagination and knowledge sharp. I have learned more and stretched my legs more than anywhere previous and, as a result, have done some of my finest work here.
