Half-hearted innovation attempts and intransparent vision
Pros
Work hours are usually flexible, but the same is expected of the employees if additional/late working hours are required (no overtime pay, unless you work in production!). Pay is generally very good, and depending on location increases steadily to account for inflation. This can be a comfortable job, if you only focus on the bare minimum requirements, but if you're motivated enough, you can find 'extra-curricular' projects to participate in. Don't expect this to have a positive impact on your career growth, though!
Cons
Every 1-2 years there is a major re-organisation, and management comes up with 'new' ways to improve 'efficiency'. Communication of the actions and impact are often scarce, leaving employees in fear of losing their jobs. Many times it is not at all clear, why those individuals are laid off, and the rather generous severance payments make you wonder, how the company expects to increase profits. This often results in under-staffed departments and major changes in org-structure, which can put innovative developments on hold for the foreseeable future, giving the competition a chance to take over market segments unhindered. Innovation always feels like an afterthought, and is reactive, rather than active. Even the departments responsible for driving innovative discovery methods are understaffed and even made responsible for measurable profit. The company 'values' feel more like an alibi rather than truly adopted by everyone in the company, especially management. Career growth is usually not based on actual performance, attitude, team-work, motivation or being innovative, rather than having the right supporters in upper-management. Political games and territorial battles are fought on director level, where financial results and customer commitments have greater impact than finding and retaining talent. This has an impact on the product portfolio, too, which is incredibly complex, with overlaps and parallel developments that make little sense to the sales-people and even less to customers. The outcome is that sales offer whatever the customers ask for, which then has to be developed by engineering in firedrill-timeframes, usually at lower than expected quality. Works councils are reduced to approving employee surveys that are often seen and presented with pink glasses by management, rather than a method to find ways to improve.
