Vantaggi
* Flexible working arrangements are fostered and encouraged by people leaders (but senior execs trying to force people back to the office for the "culcha"); * Free beers, wine and cheese on Thursday from 4pm; * Passionate, helpful and engaged (given the circumstances) colleagues who strive to build great software; * 6 additional days of leave which can be used to extend a weekend, generous maternity / paternity leave entitlements.
Svantaggi
* Iress is in the midst of a global restructure and are offloading the UK, Canadian and South African divisions. They're also in the process of selling half of a company they acquired a little over two years ago. 10% of staff were retrenched with a month's notice, except for the single c-suite exec let go who was given 6 month's gardener's leave (it's tough at the top apparently); * The remaining staff have no idea if they'll still have a job in a month or in a year, there are almost weekly changes in intended deployments of tech leads and product managers. The company feels a lot like a garbage bag in the wind but we're constantly reminded that there is a concrete strategy (delivered by McKinsey) that the senior execs are going to pursue; * Lots of talk about pay rises that never seem to eventuate - "we pay market rates". Pay reviews pushed out from June to September. I feel like I've seen this movie before. * This is a company hemorrhaging staff, with no clear strategy other than to offload assets and pursue organic growth. Iress is in marked damage control (you'll note the considerable engagement from the Chief People Officer on this platform which was absent 6 months ago).