Vantaggi
The company is big on recognizing and supporting diversity in all it forms -- race, religion, ethnicity, career experiences, sexual orientation, etc. Diversity is supported by all levels of management, from supervisors to senior leaders. The company also provides a good deal of benefits, beyond the typical healthcare plan, such as a 401K, pension plan, a robust employee discount program for a multitude of commercially available products (e.g. cell phone companies), etc. Management is very conscientious about treating employees fairly and making the company a good place to work. Little things like, free tea and coffee, which are available all day (self-serve) in the kitchenette areas located on every floor. They even provide self-serve medicine cabinets on every floor, stocked with over-the-counter meds such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cough drops, throat lozenges, etc. They are also flexible and supportive of moms with young kids. For example, they provide lactating rooms for moms who are breastfeeding, will work with you to come up with flexible hours, and even support temporary part-time arrangements. Operationally the company is very structured. I guess they have to be due to all the regulatory oversight imposed on large financial institutions. The structure is great if you like work environments with highly defined roles and responsibilities, though entrepreneurial types might find the environment overly restrictive, with little to no latitude for making discretionary job related decisions. My biggest cultural observation is that nearly all matters and business considerations (large and small) require cross-functional agreement before they can move forward. On the plus side this drives cross-functional unity and quality decisions that aren't questioned or blocked late in a process. There is also a down side, though. See discussion under Cons. Compensation can be regarded as competitive when viewed from the perspective of the total package (healthcare, salary, paid time off, tuition reimbursement, other perks), but don't expect the company to be at the top of the leader-curve with respect to salary alone.
Svantaggi
The need to get cross-functional decision making buy-in from multiple groups/functions can be time consuming and frustrating. Allow very long lead times for any decisions required to move forward, as team reviews, changes, and re-reviews can take awhile. There is no clear path for advancement. Many people I spoke with made what I perceived to be a disproportionate number of cross-functional lateral moves versus upward job changes. The company encourages lateral movement as it makes for more rounded, valued employees. Great for the company, but is it in the best interest of the individual? The company has a CYA culture. You must keep every email to support the many challenges you'll receive about who said what, when.