Pros
The company has some cross-training and is willing to take people who know nothing and train them. Some of the rank and file employees who do the work and keep the company turning are legitimately invested in helping you succeed. They do help pay for training and higher education, although it requires approval and gets capped pretty easily with current college tuition. Training is harder to get approved than education.
Cons
There are many cons. First and most importantly, the management. The management at this place is simply not good. They focus on meeting the parent companies monthly/quarterly/yearly goals above all else. If what you want to do threatens this, it will not happen and may be met with hostility. I'd also be careful about any complaints given to your direct manager or HR. HR, while they are friendly, do not have any real power to change anything. If you report something to your manager, it may flag you as a potential troublemaker and put you at the top of the list for layoffs when they need to help their bottom line to make those parent company goals. The environment here leaves a lot to be desired. The older employees actively oppose change that is clearly coming. Things like working from home or flexible work hours are dirty words, Whether you need it for valid reasons like the weather is bad or you have a doctor appointment in the middle of the day, it is basically seen as you wanting a free day off. This will cost them in years to come as their competition starts to offer this stuff, and they don't. To clarify, you can work from home if your manager approves it, but it is highly looked down upon. This is not the case if you are a manager, so there is some division between staff and management in this regard. There is also some amount of rubber necking with watching what you are doing. If you aren't chugging away on your computer, then you are going to get some looks and possibly some employees telling management. The turnover rate has been high the past year or two. Whether voluntarily resigning or layoffs, it has been high. Specifically, for the mechanical engineers. The company has gone through several mechanical engineers within the last year alone. One to resigning, two to layoffs. Other roles have been laid off as well. If you're considering employment in engineering, know that those roles have a high possibility of being laid off if the company risks not meeting their goals. Other layoffs were employees in sales and manufacturing, including one VP. Somehow, the people who should be laid off are not. Those who choose to leave the company often sighted they did not see the company paying them what they were worth or having the advancement opportunities they would need to get where they wanted in their career. The opportunities and raises are next. They are few and far between. Raises are usually in line with the cost of living increase. Bonuses are few and far between. Sometimes you can be in a group with "reach" goals that offer some payouts, but this is usually a small group of favorited employees who get selected for this. In short, get as much salary as you can get coming in because there will be small increases unless you get promoted. The opportunities are limited. The company makes most of their money offering custom products of standard catalog items and innovation is not their main interest. This leads to limited opportunities to advance into other roles or create new opportunities. The last is really only a con if you come from an employer that does not have cubes. The place is a cube farm for the employees, with nicer executive office cubes for the VP's and directors. This is becoming more universal in workplaces, but worth noting if you come from an environment where it is not.
