Pros
-Pay is competitive if you negotiate well when you are first hired. -There is no pressure to return to the office except on occasions when it is absolutely necessary (eg, client meetings). -Big agency + big growth + big revenue provides a lot of resources and even the rare ability to fire accounts (VERY rare, but it has happened). -Proactive career management and equity, diversity, and inclusion are the usual buzzwords but there is a sense they are legitimately trying: women make up a substantial portion of leadership, a possible majority of VP-level and above positions. LGBTQ+ people found in every department (though, weirdly, not in creative roles). POC representation is still quite low as in the industry in general, but I know they are actively seeking. -Overall trenches mentality and general bonhomie on teams. There can be politics and bad behavior but no more so than I've found anywhere else or in any other industry, and steps are taken to place people in groups where they will be happy.
Cons
-Pay is NOT competitive if you don't grab the money when you're first hired; paybands lack transparency so it can be difficult to negotiate from a position of strength unless you have a lot of industry experience. I hope that recent NY laws will change this. -Benefits are mediocre. Health insurance costs too much and covers too little. 401K only has half-match up to 6% and three-year vesting. No real perks like you get in non-healthcare agencies, eg, no gyms or memberships, no free food (unless you scrounge from client meetings) or drinks, no fun spaces. -As in rest of industry there is a focus on client billing that puts burden on people to "find" work even when it is slow. General admin and any perceived downtime is frowned upon, even though company simultaneously pushes people to take optional training and attend seminars that they will then be told cut down on their "utilization." Bottom line is that they want you to do any development activities as extra overtime, except nobody gets overtime pay. (Is this even legal when people aren't managers?!?) -Also as in rest of industry, account services has entirely taken over the company--they have more power than creative, than project management, then support . They consistently overpromise OTHER people's time and abilities regardless of the brand. There is no pushback on ridiculous client demands at all, and they will throw anyone else under the bus if they are "embarrassed" when something they promise can't be delivered. -Onboarding, process and training are minimal except in certain departmental pockets. Of course, understandable since they want you "utilized" within days. -Work/life balance often nonexistent (see account services, above). -Project managers at a loss to manage projects because they have no power and their plans are constantly being negated by client+account--there's general sense from most of them that they have just given up trying.