Vantaggi
A lot of people I worked with complained that as a family owned company there was no where to go in terms of vertical movement, but I found plenty of opportunities if you just showed dedication and ingenuity. The port business is so multifaceted so there were plenty of things to learn and an endless amount of things to do if you cared enough to ask. The company grew greatly when I was there and management was very aggressive in opportunities.
Svantaggi
Turn over is extremely high due to low compensation and there is no benefits package. Unfortunately the management, which is all family, has been greatly taken advantage of in the past and as a result is hesitant to trust new employees. There is no training program, no training book, no training day, etc. It is all on the job tribal knowledge. This leads to some disaffection and of course bad communication can lead to low morale.