Vantaggi
If you are desperate for a job, need a paycheck and a place where you can learn technology, this place is OK for the short term to gain experience. ATOS is also a place where you will learn how NOT TO DO THINGS. You will be OK if you are "think skinned" and have a relatively high stress level.
Svantaggi
ATOS uses a "fear" management style, you never feel secure in your job, you are NOT supported at all by management and the tech's are often the scape goat. ATOS managers use "fear", "fear for their job keeps them in-line". Management (a term I use loosely), thinks they know it all, but when they force you to do something and that something doesn't work, you will get blamed. All the other posts here regarding ATOS in Austin are true. Management deceives the upper management in thinking everything is fine, when in reality, just about all the tech's are looking for work elsewhere, it's all about appearances and perceptions, NOT reality. ATOS will tell you, raises are NOT based on merit, and you will be lucky to get a raise, IF you do get a raise, it's usually about .5%. ATOS has taken micro management to a whole new level, they want to know what you are doing every 5 minutes. ATOS management gives impossible time lines, doesn't care what the obstacles and/or delays, they will just blame you and say you're not a team player. You will hear "I don't want to hear about problems, I ONLY want to hear about solutions". You can be fired because an E-mail you sent to a manager was mis-interpreted or mis-understood. You can be fired for expressing your concerns about management, and how managers "handle" "things". You are NOT allowed to "communicate" with certain managers, you are ONLY allowed to communicate to sub-managers who then communicate to their managers. The politics are insane, ATOS will literally have 20+ staff troubleshoot why some manager didn't get an E-mail on his/her BlackBerry. The breakdown of a typical day is, 5% doing actual work, 60% doing CYA (cover your a$$), 20% explaining why you are doing what you are doing even though you have been told to do it, 15% tracking your daily activities. Management will keep adding to your workload until you break, that's how they gauge how much you can handle. You will be setup to fail. They start you as contract and tell you it's for only 6 months, but after 10 to 11 months, you may get hired full time, if you haven't already quit or snapped. They have the highest turnover I've ever seen, some barely last only a week. This was the most hostile environment I've worked in. The only reason anyone stays for any length of time is either they feel trapped, or there are no other jobs available, etc. All the staff who've left have gone on to other companies and are much, much happier and paid for what they are worth. ATOS is a borderline "sweatshop" company, the "Dark Side of the Force".