Pros
Friendly people. Very good salary and benefits (9/80 schedule, 401k in addition to pension plan ). Good work-life balance (depends on the department). Good opportunities for project managers.
Cons
LOCATION: you WILL end up working in Houston, Bakersfield, or Nigeria. San Ramon is no longer an option except a couple of corporate departments, which live in constant fear that they may be moved to Houston. LAYOFFS: 30% of my unit was laid off in 2015, more were affected in the subsequent year. If you are in a wrong place at a wrong time, you are out; there is no mechanism for keeping good people. MEDIOCRITY: there is little appreciation for technical skills and work. The attitude is that being an industry leader is too risky and being a follower is safer and cheaper; we do not have the resources to work on technically challenging problems and barely have enough time to evaluate solutions provided by vendors.
