Pros
1. The benefits (pension, 401K) , despite being gradually cut back (no vacation cash out, capping vacation hours, etc.), are still a lot better than most. 2. You're pretty much left alone to do your job if you're doing it properly. 3. Low-level management tries very hard to do a good job (only to be foiled at higher levels) 4. Flexible work hours 5. Have an excellent govt customer who provides the job satisfaction.
Cons
1. Bureaucracy, bureaucracy, bureaucracy. Nothing can get done without approval from the "cloud". Everything has a process (although no one can seem to tell you what the process it). 2. One size fits all. Doesn't matter if the policy doesn't apply to your program -- have to follow it anyway. 3. Corporate "spam" -- multiple company announcements a day. Don't care that XXXX is being announced as director/VP. This is taken as "communication" to the employee. 4. Communications minimal from higher levels. We get the press releases, but not the real story -- like which program received a 25% award fee, and how that will impact the organization. 5. Current buzzword "employee engagement". Pressure on employees to respond to the all of 10 question satisfaction survey (that shows their engagement). Pressure to create a plan to " fix deficiencies". No one actually follows up to see if it did any good. 6. Employee review process is a joke. Different types of jobs/job titles being evaluated against a single standard that is not necessarily applicable. Those that don't fit the mold always give the low ratings. 7. Sometimes wonder when the number of VPs and other staff is going to outnumber the people delivering billable hours. 8. Upper management seems to have lost sight of the importance of good people. It seems that we're just a body shop now. Pull an engineer from the pool when you need one. And send him/her back when you're done.