General Motors

Teammates are nice, with a fairly laid-back atmosphere. Good vacation days and lots of holidays are provided (e.g., closed the entire week of Christmas). A work mobile phone is provided. There is a decent 401k match (but see Con below).

Spreadsheet-happy culture. So many spreadsheets, and Word docs. Everything here is Microsoft—every tool (SharePoint, TFS, Visual Studio), every document (PPT, Word, Excel everywhere), every computer (no Macs in sight), every mindset.

Every decision or thing is documented in a spreadsheet or a cumbersome ticketing system. This is typical of big companies, but is the worst I've seen here. One week to get SVN access granted, etc.

No Git, no GitHub, no developer VMs, no SSH access to the outside world (so you can't even clone Git open source repos), etc.

No equity compensation of any form (no RSU, no ESPP even). Low salary for experienced devs. Lengthy 401k match vesting (3 yrs).

If you drive a non-GM car, you are relegated to pariah-parking—all the close-in parking is GM-car only.

No typical "tech company" niceties—no free snacks at all, no free sodas, no free coffee, no free tea, no free plasticware (seriously, you are supposed to buy plastic spoons if you need them, from the cafeteria), no paper plates, no cups, no toasters in the office anywhere, no game room, etc. (one ping-pong table for the entire 4-story building in a corner of one floor). Giant breakroom/kitchen area filled with empty cabinets and empty drawers.

Loosen the iron grip. Toss a few freebies our way, like stock the break room with plasticware or paper plates. Put a toaster on the counter, for crying out loud.