Pros
-Flexible hours and 9/80 schedule for some projects -Lots of research problems available to solve -Good community in and outside of work -Freedom to tackle new tasks depending on the project you are on -Overall response to COVID-19 has been impressive. Rules and timelines have always been based on science, not political climate.
Cons
-Managers are good scientists that were promoted internally to management roles seemingly without management training. -Promotions are based off of an unknown metric. Exceptional effort and results are not rewarded unless management thinks you will leave. I was told in my performance review that the posted company-wide engineer promotion scheme did not apply to me. -Every round of newly hired employees came in at a higher salary than those that have worked there for years in my lab. We had to address it every time. -9/80 schedule is definitely not guaranteed. Many managers will not allow you to use this perk even if it was mentioned in the interview process. -You will be viewed as a lesser engineer or scientist if you do not have a PhD. -Some people put in next to no effort and there seems to be no consequence. -Publications are very hard to get approved on some projects. This comes with the territory, but it is frustrating to not be able to publish noteworthy ideas in your field. -The employee handbook has been "Coming Soon" for more than two years despite having been asked about in every single all-hands meeting in my time there. -As a salary exempt employee, I was told to not record my hours correctly every week to stay within the company standard. I wasn't allowed to log hours that went beyond 40 per week, which was nearly every week, and wasn't able to properly charge different projects for the legitimate hours worked.