Pros
My comments reflect only my experience in Costco's IT department. - for some teams/people, flexible hours and work/life balance (40 hour work week) - job security, Costco has not ever laid people off in the home office - you work at one of the most stable, generous retailers in the world - the medical benefits are cheap and generous
Cons
My comments reflect only my experience in Costco's IT department. - seniority based culture rather than a meritocracy, similar to working in a union - on some teams, some people are overworked while others leave early all the time and do little work - only 2 weeks vacation to start until 5 years, non-negotiable - no stock options or bonuses for IT employees - salaries and raises are lower than average, we lost many potential good hires to that - very low 401k match and few perks until more seniority is reached - full telecommuting schedules are not permitted and it is generally frowned upon even on an ad hoc basis - very slow, bureaucratic environment - 10k maximum relocation allowance for non-management employees which might be tough for bigger moves/families - there are a lot of old technology (AS/400 and RPG) IT employees who know nothing else and are modern technology illiterate - there are a lot of people who started in warehouses who are now in IT and have little/no formal IT training or outside experience - lots of bad decisions about software packages and putting everything in the cloud - lots of projects languish past their due date or are cancelled and/or restarted halfway through - if the warehouse workers knew about the waste going on in the home office they would riot, since they work hard - lots of managers who should not be in leadership positions - senior employees/management are very resistant to change - the executive management is not rallying the troops and morale is very low in most groups