Pros
Get to have all the amenities that come with being on a university campus Stanford has great benefits. Healthcare, retirement and they even have a tuition payment program for children of Staff and faculty.
Cons
Stanford thinks that all they have to do is show you your benefits in 100 different ways and you'll forget that you're living in the MOST expensive part of the country, making 30% less than others for similar positions. It's great we get retirement and benefits, but what's the point if you can't pay your bills? Ultimately, there are 2 types of people at Stanford: baby boomers who are in management and incompetent people who thrive at non-profits, but would never survive a day at a private company. The majority of employees want to grow (and make more money) so, leave in 2-3 years. Unfortunately, this means that Stanford is effectively a training facility for people to become their best and leave. Some return for higher positions, grow some more, and leave again. Every year, Stanford loses millions just on hiring new employees. Not to mention, the cost of losing someone who has 2-3 year experience and investment. The simplest solution is to pay people more and encourage creativity. Unfortunately, management fears the younger generation so the #1 quality they look for is subservience. If in any way you demonstrate autonomy, creativity and analytical skill that pushes for efficiency or change, you're ostracized. You are then forced to decide between leaving or staying and becoming a zombie. Even with a gazillion dollar endowment that offers amazing benefits to those on top, they'll tell you that they are a non-profit and that you're overpaid for your position compared with the national average. You then tell them that Stanford is a multi-BILLION dollar company and that the SF Bay Area's cost of living is not the national average. They will then turn around and tell you that's your problem lol. Then starts your disengagement and ultimately resignation. I'm sure they have paid consultants time and time again to help them figure out how to retain employees. Any consultant would tell them to pay higher salaries. Of course they don't like this answer so they ask them for other solutions that do not require as much money, while making it seem as if they "care." Then the consultants tell them to display the benefits in a nice design, have a barbeque once a year and remind people that they’re dispensable. This works for about a year or two, then when people realize it’s not worth it, they leave. I’ll estimate that around 40% of the workforce leaves a position every 2 years and around 15% leaves Stanford completely. So much for saving money….
