Vantaggi
Generous PTO (if your managers let you use it). Near gender balance at all levels within the firm. High pay if you have certain niche expertise or are a former senior regulator. Free drinks. Nice holiday party.
Svantaggi
Everything else. Employees typically have no say over what projects they are assigned to and no ability to transfer between projects. Little effort is made to match projects with one's interests, skills, or career development goals. Career advancement is very difficult and extremely political. New incentive policies for senior managers disincentivize investing in or promoting junior team members. Many junior employees end up leaving bitter after promised promotions do not materialize. Several employees have been summarily fired because of minor disputes with managers. Pay used to be quite competitive across the board. Over the past year bonuses have been significantly slashed. Note the dates of other reviews praising compensation levels. Management has informed infrastructure and junior staff that they are overpaid and that compensation will be aligned more to commodity levels going forward. Profitability is down and expenses are soaring due to rapid and poorly executed expansion into new areas and high legal and PR expenses. The most glaring problem is the thick layer of semi-retired senior regulators at the MD level who do little beyond fighting with each other yet enjoy astronomical pay packages. As widely reported in the media, the firm recently paid a large fine to settle an inquiry into past failings. All of this has taken a toll on the firm's morale, reputation and business development efforts. Turnover is high and increasing.