Pros
The company has fantastic potential and for many it can be an exiting place to work. This is especially true for interns, Associate level staff and some VPs. This company is ideal for a short spell (<3yrs) where they can grow their knowledge and have a lot of freedom to be creative. Creativity is actively encouraged at Markit and with the company only 2000 employee strong, a lot of ideas make it through to implementation. The company Social Committee has arranged entertainment/activities through a generous grant of $1M from the company. This has included plasma screens to view World Cup football, Wimbledon and the golf during and after work hrs. Also, team events, treasure/scavenging hunts, bbq's, etc. Also the supply of alcohol every Friday during July/August each year to be consumed at your desk.
Cons
The cons unfotunately heavily outweigh the pros. A lot of the issues are recognised by the ExecVPs and they have started to put in place measures to address them. Much of them stem from the company growing rapidly from 300 employees 2.5yrs ago to now 2000 employees. Culture ---------- The culture is highly politicised once you reach VP and Director level. At this level, it is common place to make back door deals to either advance yourself or a member of your staff or a particular team or indeed sideline staff whether deserved or not. Review Process ---------------------- Reviewers on this site have called it "random", however, its not, its called Nepotism. This is rife in the company and the review process which has never been very robust is generally ignored. Regardless of your performance, you will not get recognised with salary, bonus or promotion unless you have built a relationship with the relevant ManagingDirector for your area. Most Directors at the review process time, become very vocal, turning up to all meetings and just being seen in the right circles. Most MDs don't remember much more than 3mths in the past and therefore they promote/award those who have worked closely with them and then take their advice on awards for staff lower down the ladder. Nepotism is to be expected in the finance industry, however, for Markit, it seems a lot worse. Sexism ---------- This is a known problem which is being addressed by the Executive management team. There are 1 or 2 depts to keep clear off in this regard but such names cannot be mentioned here, only to say that both provide a central function. Poor Management -------------------------- Man management is an after thought at Markit. Up until August 2010, there skill was not valued instead it was more important that how much money you could make for the company or how good your technical skills were. Many employees have ended up in team/business management roles purely due to length of service and not because they have these skills. As a result, they don't know how to organise work, motivate staff or keep deadlines. These soft skills are very important and the company has finally started to look into an internal management training course. However, in the meantime, many deadlines are missed and attitudes of some staff and management is very poor. This lack of man management skill is a bad influence on interns, Associates and some VPs