Pros
You get to work on high throughput low latency systems. High horsepower technology. Mostly cutting edge but concept to production times are long.
Cons
Where do I start....Let me first say that I left the company voluntarily. I was not laid off during the restructuring. I hold no grudges and I'm grateful to have been part of a great institution for so many years.....but I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't state the unfortunate negatives that have come from CME since 2013. That was the year of the first IT re-org. They put someone in charge of Infrastructure that has a shiny resume, but no actual leadership skills and plagiarizes his communications. Executive and middle management have been replaced with brash people from Citadel in overtly nepotistic ways. Citadel is known for overly high expectations of their employees and practice decimation techniques. The difference being is the prop firms like Citadel pay way more than CME does and only expect to retain you for 2 years. It doesn't work for an exchange. I still keep in touch with old co-workers and the morale is worse every day. They keep restructuring (firing) and plan to outsource anything they can to India. People are fleeing this company. If you want stability and a reasonable 45-50 hour work week don't expect it from this company. You might as well work for a proprietary trading firm and make 20-40% more with the same level of stress, lack of work-life balance, but more money and better benefits.