People in middle management are just figure heads
Pros
The company pays well and keeps people employed.
Cons
The toxicity begins with the IT leaders and it permeates down to the director & manager level. As the saying goes, employees leave bad directors/managers and not the company. They cannot tolerate slights or dissenting opinions and can be quite abrasive to those who dare voice a negative opinion. Their aggressive tendencies in the face of criticism and inclinations to validate their self-worth by derogating others. They view themselves as transformational leaders, but their view is not reciprocated by others who are afraid of the retaliation. Favoritism is rampant in the IT organization. The “pet” employees are protected by the management because they have developed a friendship beyond the workplace. For the employees who are not in the inner circle, it means that no matter what you do, your efforts won’t be rewarded if you are not one of the favored few. In short, IT leaders do not treat all employees equally. HR people may be off-site or just not involved, or they may be frustratingly chirpy and ineffectual as they pretend along with everybody else not to notice the dark and rotten culture. In any case, they are not a resource for employees. They are there to protect the company and the executives, directors, and managers. The people are very concerned about titles, job descriptions, and levels in the hierarchy. Power (the conferred kind associated with a job title or connections to high-level leaders) is more important to the people working in the toxic environment than the mission they're supposedly pursuing. The managers and employees make up two completely separate groups that seldom interact. When they do interact, it's one-way communication in which the manager tells the underling what to do. There's no other give-and-take conversation or collaboration between management and everybody else. Everyone seems to be out for themselves, and there are no genuine friendships among employees. There's lots of infighting and paranoia as well as gossip and rumors. Last but not least. Dinosaurs technologies.