Pros
Allstate is a great company to work for with excellent pay, benefits, and diversity. Great work-life balance, with possibilities to work from home or remote location with managers approval. Tuition reimbursement for undergrad degree or MBA. Lots of campus groups and events- such as financial fitness seminars, flu-shots, and active LGBTQ organizations. Northbrook, IL HQ is an easy commute from most of Chicago and suburbs.
Cons
Allstate Technology Organization (ATO) employees do not share many of the companies benefits because IT is considered to be a burden on the rest of the company. IT salaries are generally much lower than industry average by 20% - 50%. You really are stuck in your 'band'. Some new hires in high demand areas- such as SAP or Big Data get an OK initial offer, but then they can forget about any annual increases. No bonus or monetary recognition unless you are very high up the career ladder. Very limited growth opportunities, no clear career transitions, lots of nepotism and favoritism. One example is that after 15-20 years of service you may get the chance to become a team-leader, maybe. Lots of silos, with poor communication and coordination, even within the same departments- example between Windows and Unix support. Extremely restricted budgets for education, training, conferences, or travel. Lots of experienced people have been layed-off or have left leaving large gaps in knowledge. Younger staff have not been trained properly or paid properly to fill more advanced positions yet management still demands same or increased levels of service. IT leadership is full of legacy managers- rude, unavailable, and ready to take their frustrations out on you. Constant risk of being layed off, especially if you are experienced or well compensated. Employee share of cost of benefits went up drastically in a very underhanded manner. Morale is quite low. Company earnings are linked to catastrophic weather events- if you believe in global warming this company is in trouble. The auto insurance business is also in flux- with younger people driving less, development of services like Uber, and development of advanced driving technologies such as Google car and collision avoidance.