Pros
The work within engineering was enjoyable, and the engineering manager is an incredible leader who really knows what's he's doing. Autonomy regarding tools and methodologies was appreciated and the entire team was part of overall planning.
Cons
Production staff, the ones who actually build and repair what engineering dreams up, are treated like second-class citizens. It's not even something management makes any attempt to hide. Salaries are years behind in pretty much every role, and the promotion process is a time intensive operation where the onus is almost entirely on the employee. If I remember correctly, the process was somewhere in the ballpark of 50 hours, much of which was expected to be done outside of company time. A number of employees went without any form of compensation adjustment for 3 years following Covid. During that time general inflation was around 16%, and when they finally did make adjustments, it was anywhere from nothing to 3%. Much of the funds are used for putting on elaborate showings at two trade shows each year, where the booth gets more and more elaborate with each showing. Basically, all of management, who are in the same family, all attend. Owner has an unhealthy obsession with making sure employees aren't ever using their phones or doing anything in the building that isn't directly related to generating output. Should have taken it as a red flag when he digressed in my interview to complain about phone usage. There isn't an HR department, just the owner's spouse, who's title is something like "Chief People Person". There's a very strong cult vibe in that once a month there's a forced lunch where one department supplies the food and serves it and everyone else has to attend. Additionally, daily there's a communal break where attendance feels pretty much mandatory. To add to the cult feeling, everyone is referred to being part of the "Sym Family"
