Pros
Working in San Diego and most of the lower level people are nice and in the same boat and of the same opinions as you. To varying degrees you are either left alone to do your job as you see fit, or micromanaged.
Cons
It's all about various metrics- customer satisfaction, when a release is timed for maximum market impact regardless if it is ready or not, how fast you close support tickets even if the problem is resolved or not. Did you get x number of tickets closed each day, did you get a bad CSAT score that wasn't your fault and you have no control over because someone else didn't do what they should have before the ticket was handed to you. It's also about busywork and paperwork for management that wastes people's time creating, gets others yelled at for things beyond their control, and contributes to an overall demoralized attitude. There's also flawed internal certifications that contribute to low morale- the mangement has been told by their senior staff where the flaws are, yet they refuse to fix the flaws and then fail/hold over your head that you haven't passed. What most people don't know is how many people are looking for other opportunities. There's a fear attitude as several people have been fired, and management within some departments is a revolving door. You don't know who you'll report to next, and on top of that it's happened right before review time which means you'll probably get a meaningless review. (Along with no raise to boot)
