Goldman Sachs

Culture can be team-specific, so sometimes you can get lucky and get people you like working with. This is a 40,000-person corporation, so you never know who you will get paired up with. Additionally, often the people you work with are very passionate about technology and into their jobs, so it is a good place to learn about tech, especially for more junior people.

The culture in place is inherently against work-life balance; there are yearly firings.

The intention for all employees is that you keep growing while also competing with your colleagues. Once you hit vice president level, the expectation becomes clearer that you are expected to maximize your time working. The only constraint you have is your own health, as many of the employees there are immigrants (myself included).

So basically, you are forced to prioritize work over everything else, otherwise you are at risk of losing your job and your status in this country.

Additionally, they made it clear this last year with the small bonus pool and decrease in flexibility (where they basically do not want you working from home if possible) that they do not value software engineers as much as they were touting during the past few years. Look elsewhere for a place that has a more sustainable work culture.