Pros
Predictable job. Decent benefits. Vast majority of the front line managers and teammates were great to work with.
Cons
Department is rife with games and favoritism. Laughable people promoted and hired into high places, with no tangible knowledge or skills. Most (though not all) of my direct HR colleagues and bosses were faking their roles, with no real expertise or substance to back it up. The higher up you got, the more generally inept people became. The culture itself is very individualistic. Don't expect to get help or do many projects that involve a lot of teamwork. Plenty of backstabbing and in-fighting. Management will throw you under the bus at a whim if it's the slightest bit politically beneficial to them. Shockingly petty culture as well. Everyone's feelings are very easily hurt here and people will issue complaints over non-existent matters. I'm obviously sensitive to harassment, discrimination, etc., as these are real problems that must be addressed, but so many of the things people would complain about here were simply made up in an effort to retaliate against someone else. In general, I've never worked with so many children occupying adult bodies. There is also rampant discrimination and favoritism within the HR department, nullifying it's own internal credibility. They don't practice what they preach at all. Beyond HR, the company is really bad at soliciting and implementing feedback from frontline employees, most of whom work their tails off and are underpaid vs. the market. It's a very top-down environment, where you just kind of keep your head down, do your thing well, and try to stay off the radar to maintain your job and avoid being caught up in layoffs. Politics play a huge role in success here. Upper management are largely inept. Very reactive, risk adverse environment. Very procedural. Plenty of toxic, miserable people. You can do better for yourself and your career.