Pros
I think of my team at SAS more of an extended family than as coworkers. I'm still relatively new to the team, having only been with the company for four years, and yes I realize that is a lifetime at many software companies. People come to SAS, and for the most part they stay at SAS. The benefits are just what you've heard, fantastic perks throughout that rival many of the Silicon Valley big shots. Amazing health and wellness benefits on site, and a real focus on employee work/life balance, going even so much as giving fringe pseudo-science seminars in all sorts of interesting and forward thinking topics. I see some on Glassdoor are complaining about low pay, but I haven't really seen that in my team. People seem to be happy with compensation, and I feel I am being paid very fairly in my role, but then I did negotiate heavily when coming into the group. I've also seen decent, and on par with the industry, raises over the last few years. Nothing to get excited about, but again very fair. They're also extremely generous with their 401K dole outs. They don't do matching, like most companies, and instead pay a small contribution every paycheck whether you're contributing or not... On top of that, there's a yearly 401K payout for profit sharing (as well as a personal bonus to the employee). These aren't huge, but very fair and are very nice to receive. As for the work environment, you have some amazingly creative and intelligent people, a few floaters that have been around forever, but are kind of stuck in the past, and some of the best summer students I've ever worked with. Every company has dead weight, and yes SAS has its share, but for some reason I feel that even the drift wood in the various groups are a bit higher motivated and a bit higher classed than at most companies. There's a lot to like here, and a lot to feel proud about. It's a great company to park at if you're done hoping from job to job and just want to settle in on a nice long career. SAS definitely feels like family, and over time even if you get discouraged and mad, it's hard to turn your back on them.
Cons
When you first come to SAS there's one word thought that probably crosses a lot of people's minds... Did I just join a cult? It does feel like that, sometimes. The culture is very enclave-chiq. SAS has created a little micro-city in Cary that has everything you could possibly need, from a post office, barbershop, day care, school, amazing gym and yes, even a cemetery. The way the guards wave, non-stop, to the parading cars that enter the campus in the morning, smile plastered on their faces, you start wondering if you should be drinking the free sweet-tea in the cafeterias. It's a very different work environment than you're used to, and transplants may find it a little off-putting at first. Especially if you're an introvert-type. Not to mention, everyone seems to know everyone's business... It's hard not to, and you'll be invited to team lunches daily, to extracurricular events, and etc. Your comfort and mileage may vary. Some people are probably reading, how is this a con? It's just a little... much... at times. The only real problems I've seen around campus are just boredom of some of the lifers at SAS, who probably should have retired or left a long time ago, and the flat structure you'll hear a lot of people mention here on Glassdoor. This is not a company you can easily come in and work your way up the ranks, mostly because of the lifers. Most teams have the 20-30+ year team members who know everyone and have been around since Goodnight. They've married SAS employees, have kids that are SAS employees, etc, etc. Because of that, it's a really low-key and loose organization, I'm two rungs from the top of the company as a lowly engineer. There's really not too much more for me to progress to... To be fair, there are tons of other opportunities in the company, everything from engineering, media production, finance, to honestly being a SAS employed artist or gardener if I really wig out one day. So, there's really no excuse for feeling stuck or bored in your position. I'll likely never be a Sr. Director, though, or CTO, or etc. If you want that, you'll probably need to jump ship at some point and go to a more traditional company. Is that a con? I don't know. You'll learn a ton at SAS either way, whether you make it a lifelong journey or just a short stint on your way to other things.
