Pros
-Staff are some of the brightest, most motivated, hard working people in development and the organization’s work is at the forefront of the sector. -Project staff have an opportunity to work with the greatest development economists around and, if desired, get letters of recommendation to top graduate schools. -Opportunities to live abroad and/or travel. -High levels of responsibility provide great opportunities for personal growth. -Learn first hand how to run RCTs, design surveys, and develop strong STATA and stats skills.
Cons
-Salaries are low and the ranges between staff who do the same amount of work can be absurd. -No vertical movement for junior staff (no longer do all staff want to get PhDs, so IPA’s business model needs to be seriously rethought) nor is there any sound investment in them or mentorship available. This results in very high turnover and chronically low staff morale and well-being. -Job descriptions are all over the place and lack transparency. Many staff (particular those in the field) have exceedingly high levels of responsibility and workloads with hardly any support or oversight. Whereas other staff are micro-managed constantly and given little room to develop any useful skills. -Senior management seems to be dysfunctional and also experiences rapid turnover. -Little-to-zero internal communication about what is going on throughout the organization. -HR and Finance are way behind in their structures and processes, which are causing major problems throughout the organization. Management is not honest or transparent about this. -Treatment of national staff often embarrassing for an organization working to “end poverty” -No channels to effectively express concerns to headquarters.