Pros: Salary/perks/401k contributions. A lot of really smart people to learn from and grow your skills. Well-seasoned "engineers at heart". Access to incredible scale (of systems) not present outside of FAANG. If you get lucky, you'll get a good manager who has your back and maintains integrity and helps you grow. If you're even luckier, you'll get into a functional team with reasonable expectations.

Cons: * Lots of toxic senior people and management that will use any excuse to cut you down and lie to your face repeatedly without consequences. * Lots of insufferable politics that leave services in a terrible state, and the team ends up with a really high turnover rate because no one wants to stay. * Extreme, constant, and unnecessary pressure to "perform" that may leave you with poor mental and physical health. * If there are no metrics to back anything you've invested effort into in order to do it right or better for the long term, it didn't happen and it doesn't matter. * Be prepared to constantly defend your entire existence and worth, especially if you're an early-career engineer. There's no trust in engineers, only engineers who become at least part-time politicians. Be prepared to become a blogger so you can advertise everything you're doing to people who don't care by posting to internal groups so that it looks good in front of management and is easier to "sell" during performance evaluations. An introvert's nightmare. * There's no "bottom-up" culture anymore; you do what you're told, or else.

Pros: - A huge amount of learning - Solving problems at incredible scale - Great benefits and pay - Many opportunities to grow

Cons: - Closed technology bubble, with only very few specifics transferable. - Tiny cog in a huge machinery. - Contributing to ethically questionable goals.

Pros: Pros: * **Strong Resume Booster:** The "ex-Meta" tag looks good on a resume and can open doors at other companies. * **Competitive Pay & Benefits:** High salary, bonuses (once a year), and solid perks. * **Opportunities Depend on Team:** Some teams work on cutting-edge tech, but it’s hit-or-miss. * **Good US Office Perks:** Food is great in US offices, and some employees get travel opportunities (though heavily restricted now).

Cons: Cons: ➤ Brutal Performance Reviews: Conducted every six months, and if you fall behind early, you can’t recover. Everything depends on your team lead’s opinion, not actual work. ➤ Toxic Work Culture: Bootlicking and politics matter more than skills. If your team lead dislikes you, your career is dead. ➤ Clueless Management: Most managers have zero technical knowledge, so your performance is judged arbitrarily. ➤ No Job Security: The company has no real policy for underperformance—if you fall sick or miss a target, you risk getting laid off. The latest wave saw 4,000 employees cut without warning. ➤ Stress & Burnout: Employees spend an entire week writing self-reviews, only for biased managers to decide their fate. Many quit within a year due to mental exhaustion. ➤ Big Boss Lack of Empathy: During the first layoff wave in 2021, he dodged employee concerns, turned off his camera, and rewarded executives while firing workers. He only cares about AI replacing engineers. ➤ Engineering Experience is Limited: Most of what you learn at Meta doesn’t apply elsewhere. Real engineers have either left or secured safe positions within the company. ➤ Advancement is Political. ➤ Terrible London Office Food: No matter the cuisine, it's bad. ➤ Fewer Travel Opportunities: Flights have been reduced, and managers rarely approve business travel anymore.