Vantaggi
Nice place to live (but expensive!)
Svantaggi
Salaries are low, something like 60% of going rate for IT professionals. Our union gave up any notion of raises about 10 years ago, so people from before that are much better paid. People that were hired more recently are hired at low pay and never get a raise. Morale is low. The typical way people get more money is to move from position to position. Many IT managers are from the "good old days" and take care of their jobs and their buddies, but don't take care of business. Many IT managers are completely stale technically, and have little relevant knowledge or skills in current IT practices, and poor management skills. The review system is fundamentally broken, good people are not rewarded and under performers are not dealt with, so they good people give up and leave, and the under performers get more and more entrenched. Many IT staff have been here far too long, are basically "retired in place" and get in the way of doing the right thing to protect their positions. Old managers and old staff like the "good old ways" of doing things. Don't come here to do anything cutting edge.