Massive turnover - plenty of reason for that
Pros
Was exposed to quite a bit of scientific work which did involve some development and growth but that always felt hindered and held back, and the colleagues that I worked with at the company were generally a positive experience.
Cons
Where to start with this.... Pay will never be raised. They say there's an annual pay rise/negotiation thing but I know several people who have gone well over a year without one because of course, you have to have been here for over a year to have a review and its only done during a certain window in the year. People will be hired from outside the company at higher salary than current employees (for the same role), which goes to show how much the company values your experience. In terms of career opportunities, might look good on your CV when applying for your next role. But people seem to quickly figure out there's no future to be had at this company hence the average length people stay according to LinkedIn is two years. The only ones I know who are not actively looking/hoping/praying to leave are ones who are living locally in the area. There's no R&D manager which has left a sort of feeling (IMO accurately) among many that R&D doesn't have any clear objectives, aims or directions. This doesn't seem to be a concern that's being addressed in any hurry or seen as any real issue. Felt like a place where it would be difficult to make any productive impact, and if you want to you'd face more resistance than if you meekly just went nodding along and receiving a paycheck for being a yesman. HR is either incompetent or a liar. Tried informing me that discussing alternative employment opportunities with colleagues is a fireable offence. Might as well have tried saying that it's illegal to share my salary with others too. Staff turnover is hysterical. Was there for about half a year during which half the R&D team left, and this seems to be somewhat the norm. Manager actually left, informing us on a Tuesday that his last day would be Friday. Frankly, at no point did I feel respected, useful or valued. It was a waste of my time, the job was sold to me as one thing - working at a niche, cutting edge technology company but the reality fell far short of the mark. Also, would like to mention the 3 month notice period is more or less entirely for the purpose of helping keep people trapped in their roles.
