Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Pros
"Moderately better than unemployment" - was the title of another fine review on this website and it applies here. The company has running water most of the time. They also have AC and heating on special occasions - AC to celebrate the first day of winter and heating for the first day of summer. Plenty of opportunities to spend what little money you make on grossly over-priced food in the cafe. You can play with the feral cats on your way to and from your car.
Cons
This is not a business anymore. It is an academic "Think Tank" full of arrogant, self-centered managers who consider themselves the guardians of the planet. Sure, they are making money (that you as a common worker bee will never see) because they continue to upsell useless add-ons and services to their huge clients - who by the way are required to use only ESRI software and services because of the very restrictive contracts they were foolish enough to sign. But wait, it gets worse! The management level (particularly in the Marketing division) and the Corporate Administrative Services department warrant special attention. They're useless - gone (I wish)! I struggle to find words that adequately reflect how bad it is to come into contact with either of these two groups. Imagine touching the world's hottest stove. Now, imagine two of these stoves - one on each side and you are caught in the middle. Now, imagine these stoves converging to squeeze the life out of you. Got the picture? Then welcome to ESRI - abandon all hope. Seriously, if you are considering a job at this company - please reconsider. There is no structure here. If they give you a job spec - it is just a formality. You will have to do whatever they tell you - even if you aren't trained to do it. And you better do it well - or else you get an unwanted tour of the Corporate Administrative Services gulag. The ever-present deception starts at the interview. You will hear promises of good pay, flexible schedule, work-life balance, collaboration with colleagues, friendly work environment, etc, etc. ESRI is none of these things. There is an annual review process which is nothing more than a caning session for your morale. Don't believe me? Ask any worker bee whose gone through it more than once. And while your morale evaporates over the years, so will your savings account. It actually will cost you money to work at ESRI. The range of annual merit increases (the rest of humanity calls these raises) that you will be subject to is 0% to 5%. This is the party line, but actually it's more like 0% to 3%. So, if by some miracle you don't do anything all year (and well into the following year) to offend your department manager or direct supervisor (which is, by the way, impossible) you'll probably get a 3%. Since this is lower than the current Cost of Living Index, you actually just lost money working all year. Congrats!! I know several ESRI employees that have had to take second jobs to make ends meet. Remember: if what you hear about this company sounds too good to be true - that's a big red flag you need to take notice of.