Pros
-flexible schedule once you have worked 3+ years full time -Used to have interesting projects but now management mostly focuses on getting construction monitoring contracts (which isn't real biology). There are still a few interesting project sites sprinkled in though.
Cons
-Top heavy, cliquey management that only views lower level staff as numbers. -Pay is significantly less than market standard, and billing utilization is constantly focused on instead of good work or career development. -Frequent turn over of lower level staff because the upper management/older principals and associates hoard all of the available money on top. The majority of workers in this company have either been here only a few years or have been here for 20+ years. There are very few instances of workers in between. -Blatant favoritism is rampant, in that certain seniors are allowed to do constant assistant level work while certain junior staff are expected to take on technical/business development roles. As such, there is no transparency on what specific roles each level of worker is expected to do, and there is no transparency or official path to get promoted. If you inquire about raises/promotions you will be reprimanded. -The new bio department leader is robotic and ineffective, and doesn't even live in California. -Lower level workers are pushed to do endless construction monitoring and don't acquire any new technical skills to advance as professionals. -The majority of the bio department is comprised of old, close to retirement biologists who are merely coasting and have no incentive or desire to mentor junior staff, push out good work, or get interesting project contracts. -Management refuses to pay Orange County wages, so all of the biologists live far away and thus there is no team cohesion whatsoever. The morale within in the bio department and many other departments is burnt out, frustrated, and unsatisfied. This is not a company of happy people.