Awesome and lively place to work, incredible and open people, and kickass benefits perks!
Pros
The benefits and the amenities are great... The company definitely knows how to compensate their employees individually - especially if he/she performs well and expresses his/her concerns if they feel any. Bottling them up and letting them fester isn't going to help the employee or management in the long run.
Cons
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working here... but yes, it is extremely competitive. There is pressure to deliver, but that's true at any large company. With that said, it is very classic startup in that work-life is seriously out of balance. Having been an artist at both a small company and a large company (Electronic Arts) prior to coming to Zynga, I'm used to high pressure and tight deadlines. That's not going to change in a highly competitive industry in the business of keeping the masses (with quickly diminishing attention spans) entertained. Although work-life balance is seriously out of whack, I prefer to err on the side of optimism that things will/can change rather than complain about it. I feel that the larger the company, the more difficult it is to get our ideas across and approved because of all the red tape our ideas have to clear. I acknowledge that Zynga has a great knack for metrics and seeing what's marketable/profitable, but the users aren't merely numbers nor are the employees who generate the games... give us just a bit more credit.
