Pros
The people at my level are incredibly fun, compassionate, driven, and great to be around (when they aren't feeling depressed by the job). They work really hard to meet quota/metrics. My direct manager and their manager are both incredible and constantly goes to bat for their teams. (Which they often have to do against upper management). Once in a while there is a useful/helpful guest-speaker or training session, but most of the time it doesn't feel like there is much professional development. The salary and benefits are obviously very good for a writing job, but after relocating across the country to live in Richmond, I realized that there's nothing comparable around. If I left this job I would have nowhere to go that would pay me nearly as much. It's a stuck feeling. Phil, who runs the food and cafeteria, is an amazing guy - He's the only person who is in charge of a department that actually gets things done ASAP when there is an issue or request. Security staff are incredibly kind and helpful.
Cons
The atmosphere is cartoonishly corporate. I used to think that those "evil" execs only existed in movies - you know, the ones who fire someone for speaking up, speaking out, or for nothing at all? But that's what has happened since I've gotten here, and I've lost a lot of great friends/coworkers who literally disappeared without warning from one week to the next. (I'm honestly scared they'll somehow know I've posted this and fire me on the spot... or worse, that they'll sue. So for legal reasons these are all my personal opinions and observations and not indicative of any accusations against this company.) CoStar is very infamously metrics/quota-driven. Usually the #s they want you to hit aren't explained, so most people don't know why they're racing every week to hit a certain amount of tasks, calls, or completed items on their list. None of those tasks seem to feel fulfilling or go anywhere. When your numbers dip you end up on PIP plans, and if you can't catch up you're fired. (I know this is common in a lot of corporate jobs but here it's very intense). The campus isn't that impressive, and it's isolated from the rest of the city, so it's hard for most people to walk to lunch or after-work drinks. The construction on the new building has created chaos at the end of a workday. There are currently too many people working in the building, and so employees are stuck sitting in their cars in the building's parking garage for over 1 hour trying to get out after 5pm. All the work we do is on the computer and we rarely need to speak to another person throughout the day for any tasks we have - yet the company is very against remote work. Some departments have one or two WFH days, but other than that you're fighting traffic and construction to stare at a screen all day. (Obviously my team is amazing and fun, so I enjoy seeing them in-person, but we don't need to rely on one another for our actual jobs, so it's just kind of... weird that we have an office environment to begin with.) Even though it is a billion-dollar company, the building is always in some form of small disrepair. Whether the door to the stairwell is broken, coffee/water machines are broken, or just scanning yourself in and out of the building is broken, there's always something going on - but I know the facilities department is trying their best. They get you with a large salary and try to show off their current campus and get you excited about the new building being built, but honestly, once you're here you realize you've relocated across the country only to be stuck in a place that treats you like a number. There's nowhere else to go because no one pays as much $ around here. I know I signed up for this contract, but I had no idea how unhappy I'd be before the year-mark. I really thought I'd be here for a few years at least! It's like they know how you'll feel and this is the way to keep you. Worst of all, I don't think I'm growing as an employee or professional. My job is very cut-and-dry. I don't think I'm improving as a writer, and opportunities to become an editor have essentially dried up, because now they make editors punch numbers on a spreadsheet instead of actually editing written material. I thought I would come to this company and soar upward, become a great editor, and have pride in my work. But I don't.