Pros
Great work life balance and work content is quite interesting. The job is what you make it. You can coast or you can really work hard and make a difference in the organzation. People who do not have impressive educational backgrounds can really excel in this environment as many of the coprorate employees started in the stores and worked their way up through the ranks. Recently, Safeway has made a push to hire people outside the company who have diverse work experience (many new Directors and VPs are former consultants). Safeway also has a strong committment to the envronment and local communities.
Cons
Opportunities to advance are more limited compared to companies of similar size. Our medical and dental benefits are probably not at par with many other Bay Area companies or even companies outside the CA Bay Area. In addition, the vacation given to new corporate employees is only 2 weeks which is definitley less than the customary 3 weeks of vacation that corporate employees typically earn. However, people within the organization seem especially sensitive to personal or medical needs. Every company has downsides and Safeway's downsides are probably similar to many other companies, especially retail companies where the margins are relatively low.