• The single most important thing that will make or break you is the manager you directly report to and your superiors. If they are incompetent or don't have your back, you will either be doing their job and not being recognized for it, or be thrown under the bus. Also, because your bonuses are highly dependent on their feedback, you are under their mercy if they don't like you.
• Way too many meetings; can take up about 75% of your time. If you're a manager or more senior level, expect that to be 90%.
• The company has a directive to cut costs, so they are overly reliant on contractors right now, as they are cheaper and easier to terminate. However the weird thing is even if the contractor is great, it is often difficult to extend contracts past a certain time period, and even more difficult to hire them full-time. Also, can take forever to hear back from applying for a job, interview, and be accepted. This affects both the person applying and the team waiting to get help. And when people leave or are let go, there's somewhat of a hiring freeze in some departments so many positions are not back filled and the remaining team is left to do more with less.
• Company is going through their latest restructuring/transformation, which happens like every 2-3 years, which becomes super disruptive. It seems like we go full circle every few cycles. And these changes are done without much input from the people it most affects.
• No clear process for most things.
• Don't expect to move up, only laterally or into the hell of middle management, which there seems to be many levels of. People stay here forever (which can be a pro for some).
• There is supposed to be a culture built around core values, with one that centered on respect for everyone. This is being eroded by some new senior level people who are creating a toxic environment by debasing others, or constantly changing direction without much reason. People are so afraid to speak honestly to them, preferring to just say yes to everything, or remaining silent.
• Highly bureaucratic, way too much consensus building (though they will tell you it's about supporting everyone's unique perspective).
• If you're a creative, it can be really boring, tedious work most of the time. The style guide is pretty restrictive, most things are templated, and you'll find yourself doing lots of production work. Also way too much time and emphasis spent on creating long, boring powerpoint presentations that are internal only.
• Company is so legally conservative and risk adverse that it prevents the company from doing certain things differently. Also because of this, it takes forever to let go of under performers because of the fear of a law suit.
• Technology is outdated, everything is locked down, or it takes forever to adopt new things/software/technologies/processes.
• Some parts of the company say they are doing agile, but it's more agile in name and rituals only.
• Like my title says, work can go one way or the other depending on your position or department. Marketing and IT are experiencing the greatest amount of turbulence right now.
