If you get a good manager it is great. If you get a bad manager, God help you.
Pros
There are still some good researchers around but there is a slow and steady brain drain going on. Compensation is not the best but OK.
Cons
A lot of managers have risen to their current position due to attrition and not because of their qualifications/qualities/abilities. They are understandably afraid of more qualified and able personnel and try to hamper their career growth. Since everything here is manager driven if you get a bad one then, well, too bad. However there are some great people here who actively foster employee development but none of them are in research. People in commercial operations and development seem to be happy but those in research appear to be equally (if not more) unhappy. Benefits are slowly going away, with the bi-monthly Ho Ho-s, then the compensation for riding on the bus; now they have started asking employees to pay for taking the bus on some routes (previously this was only limited to contractors and temps). Health insurance is not as good as before. Some people pretend to do "science" without any understanding of it. Lower level employees cannot give real feedback on their managers. There is a lot of promise of change but everything stays the same.
