Pros
Other than dealing your manager, you're left to your own wits to figure out how to make things work for yourself. The managers and directors aren't much help, but at the same time they really don't interfere.
Cons
The flipside to management having a hands-off approach is that you have very little support. There is rarely any inter-office communication, so your coworkers seem to prefer to stay ignorant as opposed to tapping each other for help. Speaking of which, don't even bother to challenge the status quo. This company is 'stuck' doing things as they've always been done. The Durbins run things here as it's a small family-owned business. Ever since Dr. Durbin, the original owner stepped down a couple of years ago, his son Jeff, the Chief Financial Officer, seems to be cutting corners every place he can. Take a glance around one of the offices you visit and you'll notice the majority of staff are still using 14" monitors that are nearly two decades old. In my six years with the company, they stopped my 401K match without any notice which I had to jump rank to finally get an answer as to why which has yet to be given. Finance said it was a mistake, but wouldn't elaborate beyond that. In addition, I have never received an annual review and also never been given a salary raise despite the owner bragging about having some of the most profitable years in the history of the company. The majority of the staff is also women. Perhaps it's due to the nature of the business, but then again women are also paid less and also don't challenge authority. Typical patriarchy from a business run by two old white men. In spite of nearly ALL of their money coming in as government funding, just know that every dollar they don't pay you goes directly into the Durbin's pockets.
