Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley, in general, will treat its employees fairly and well.

There are, of course, obligatory training (compliance, diversity, Know-Your-Customer, etc.) and there is a required approval process for any personal trading. However, these are both regulatory requirements for any front-desk facing job in banking, so they cannot be held against the company.

The work environment is relatively relaxed compared to other banks, and the managers are rather friendly. When I had trouble with my health (not preventing any work, but making my commute rather inconvenient), they allowed me to work from home for an extended time until I got better.

They do not like employees working crazy hours and seem to have checks (or at least, managers' good will) to prevent burnout. Also, they have a decent candidate selection (and annual review, later on) process, meaning you are more likely to work with good developers than with poor ones.

If you are a permie software developer, your base salary and bonus will be capped, no matter how good you are. This is common in banking, and one way out of this bracket is to move to contracting. You are unlikely to be promoted unless you have worked at the firm for many years.