Lowish pay. Not actively horrendous, but consistently below market level for a given position,frequently including technical positions. This by itself, to me, takes 2 to 3 stars off a rating, especially when (as is the case in PB) HR & the overall management structure seems uncomfortable discussing pay & unwilling to negotiate, which is a big sign that that situation isn't changing anytime soon. The scholars program is nice, but given the restrictions on your allowed grades while you're in it + the fact that it amounts to a loan, you can't really weight it very highly as a component of the comp. It's a nice to have, but it's not amazing.
Also, a lot of people at PB started right out of college/bartending. That's not a dealbreaker, but it does mean somewhat antiquated methods survive simply because that's all someone's ever known. The amount of stuff that should probably have been automated years ago + workflows that could have been planned and streamlined more effectively is somewhat high.
The experience is also pretty departmental. Research = data entry, much of the time, and I simply would not encourage you to apply to that department as it's the source of a lot of disillusionment. Editorial, Product, and a few others are probably the most typical tech-company experience, but the pay issue still stands. You'll note that about 90% of the 5 star reviews are from CS and Sales - I can't gainsay that, but factor in the fact that the positive experiences are that team-specific before you make your decision. If you're not in CS or Sales, I would not expect to have that good a time, and while there I knew a pretty decent # of sales and CS people who either wanted to transfer teams or who themselves felt that their expectations were not met.
Overall, the pay's the thing (yes, that was a Shakespeare pun). Given that you can find a place that pays more, probably also has solid health coverage and a 401k and maybe some ed benefits as well...I'd probably point most people somewhere else. I had an overall positive experience with the people I met and worked with, but the simple fact is that if market rate for Role X with a year or two's experience is around 70k base once you remove the super-high-paying or super-low-paying outliers, PB probably pays 55-60k for that role, and that might be if you kept asking for raises. They won't talk about it and they're not changing it, so I'd give this one a pass. I liked my team, and everyone immediately above me in the chain of command that I ever worked with was pleasant and generally willing to go to bat for their team - so my assumption is that it's an issue higher up the chain, which makes it less likely to change.
