Pros
Pay and benefits are above average. Majority of workforce are competent individuals who are friendly.
Cons
IPO resulted in a Visa USA management coup where majority of senior/tenured Visa International staff were terminated. Performance reviews are vague, subjective and meaningless, HR is clueless and provide no support to workforce. Politics and bureaucracy is rampant and out of control (nurmerous signatures required for capital purchases(13), product approval (25)). I am afraid to raise issues to HR for fear of retribution. Executives spout the company line of cutting costs but this is only applies to the worker bee. Typical corporate greed: No pay raises for employees in 2008, CEO lives at 4 Seasons San Francisco and reaped $1.7 million bonus and has 2 private/leased corporate jets ($50 mil), exec management offsite meeting in Pebble Beach (thousands per exec). Hundreds of millions spent on ad campaigns with no empirical data to support expense but great for execs at NFL events and Olympics. Current mission to force out/lay off more seasoned employees who are close to retirement (severence packages are generous, though). Benefits continue to be cut while executives are rolling in dough (from generous stock options awarded to themselves).