Yahoo

The working environment is generally wonderful, even if the work isn't always. You will be working with an incredibly intelligent and nice group of people. There is a pleasant lack of arrogance and snobbery. The employees are friendly and helpful. Employees work as a team and support one another.

The benefits are great: 401K with matching, ESPP stock purchase plans, health care paid for the entire family, cafeteria plan, vision, dental, disability, EAP, etc. After one year of employment, you get three weeks paid vacation per year, that increases one day per year. 11 paid holidays. 2 floating holidays. Amazing holiday party.

But, mostly, employees are treated like adults and not micro-managed.

Because Yahoo! is so large, employees tend to get pigeon-holed on one skill. Unlike in smaller companies, where everyone has a plethora of responsibilities, at Yahoo! you may find your brain atrophying due to the monotony of repeatedly doing the same task. Unfortunately, for the majority of staff, there is little room for growth.

With so many employees, there is also little recognition. Only a few stand-out employees get recognized over and over again.

Because of the limited opportunities for growth, most outgrow their positions and move on to other companies after a couple of years. Because of the difficulty getting recognized for accomplishments, and due to the layers upon layers of management, pay raises and bonuses are slim to none.

Yahoo! is a great place to work for the first two years. You need to move on to be challenged and better compensated.

Too much management and indecision.

Make decisions and stick to them. Marketing and product indecision will be the downfall of Yahoo! Let engineering provide leadership instead of marketing.

Women should not have to work harder than men to be noticed and prove themselves. While there are definitely several women who have been able to move ahead at Yahoo!, they are noticeably almost absent from the engineering tiers. Add one or twelve to the YUI team. Encourage women to get more involved in presenting to their colleagues.

Get rid of some of the megalomaniacs and rein in the nepotism.