Pros
The office is in a convenient, metro-accessible location. There are wonderful people who work here. The health benefits are good. I learned to appreciate myself more and how I felt about my own work mattered more to me than the random, frequently changing directives the CEO and COO constantly put out. I now know the warning signs of a toxic work environment.
Cons
This company hires amazing, highly skilled individuals, but both the CEO and COO do not appreciate their employees’ expertise, nor do they attempt to train employees. When the CEO and COO do provide input, they often contradict each other, leaving employees left trying to figure out whose direction to follow. Even when employees do exactly what was instructed, they still face the possibility of being reprimanded because the executives are so fickle minded. Reprimands are in the form of email blasts to the whole company or publicly putting employees down. The accounting of hours is very strict, and because contracts are underbid, it forces employees to scramble for billable hours during the workday so they can work on underfunded projects on their own time. The company has many young people, with fresh, innovative ideas; however, the executives believe that their method is the only one that matters. This holds true even when that method yields failure. The office has a cold feeling, with an undercurrent of fear. Employees often speak in a whisper and I avoided talking with the executives to avoid a potential confrontation or ridiculous requests.