Pros
1 - Very good people in technical areas, this was the highlight of the place with good comradery. 2- Interesting technology aimed at a worthy cause. 3- Reasonably good pension and canteen. 4- Overtime and shift allowance when authorized. 5- Good team working attitude - but only if you get the right manager. 6- Its possible to move from one division to another - but some managers will actively block this if they decide they don't want any change or disruption.
Cons
1- Virtually no personal development or training. Someone needs to point out that pushing buttons on a screen for 10 mins and printing out some certificate is not training. Previous attempts by various staff to get support for PhDs/MSc's or externally recognized courses in company relevant activities were simply ignored or rejected - even when the staff offered to pay for it or use their own time. This is the extent to which staff are desperate for some real professional development - astonishing behavior for a large company. 2- Rapidly increasing workloads requiring extra hours are verbally acknowledged but never rewarded. The stress levels, workload and expectations keep increasing, however hiring freezes, no pay increases and loss of staff is wearing people down. 3- A significant percentage of middle managers are devoid of emotional intelligence and seem to think that their team is their personal dominion. Staff - no matter how intelligent or experienced are ignored or silenced, the quickest solution is always forced upon teams even when it clearly can't succeed. 4- Promotions are amazing arbitrary and do not reflect the complexity or commitment that was put into the work. When things start to go down hill there is a strange tendency to blame ground level workers while ignoring the 20 ton elephant in the room (rushed testing, sloppy planning, defective components ......eh China anyone?). 5- There is now an entrenched tendency to assume that staff will put up with anything, give everything they can and ignore the fact that they are getting virtually nothing in return - simply because 'we are fighting cancer'. This should be enough and seeking anything else (pay increase, promotion, training) is selfish or disruptive. This occurs along side hiring endless managers, VP's or paper pushers while firing contractors, baseline workers and anyone actually doing physical work.