MathWorks

Relaxed. Free Wednesday breakfast. Free Friday cookie. Lots of perks.

The company still has the mindset of a small company (<500, in the mid-nineties) and has a hard time growing into the culture of a mid-size company (>3200 in 2015). Middle management is very slow in motivating engineers or giving them opportunities for growth. This is mostly because there are no competitors (except for open-source, the biggest enemy of MathWorks).

You get a cozy job with no opportunities for growth. You may work here for a long time and never get promoted because "you're compared against others," a nonsensical alibi given by managers who, in most cases, are not technical at all!

Reward your employees for their contributions because they deserve it. Don't ignore this, because as a private company with no competition, you can treat them any way you please.