Pros
Truly brilliant people at all levels of the company, and there are a lot of world class brands to work with (though, being on a struggling brand can be a nightmare). The company's focus on making positive impact through their brands is genuine, and inspiring. Having Unilever on your resume will open a lot of doors for you in your career. The work you do will be impactful. Sometimes, it will be amazing. Every now and then when the company does put resources behind something, you will have fun. Working environment is flexible- if you need to work from home for a day, it's easy to do so. Fridays year-round are basically abandoned in the office. If you live in the city, the shuttle really is a lifesaver. People complain they have to pay $100 per month, but it is totally worth it. It used to be far more expensive, and despite some hiccups with its efficiency, it is more than many companies offer. Generally, people are quite friendly and helpful. The company does make efforts to keep up with leading trends and at a basic level does care about employee well-being. The initiatives don't always land, but at least it's recognized and discussed. The company store and in-office services like dry cleaning are also really, really nice.
Cons
Everyone will tell you the bureaucracy is a challenge, and it really is. Onboarding of new hires is not at all a strength in non-university recruited functions, and it is quite easy to get lost in the system. Persistence is really important, because it may take the 3rd of 4th followup sometimes to get answers on some things, particularly if it is related to HR or any of the complicated internal systems and processes that exist. Pay is fair, but it is quite easy to get more money elsewhere. Negotiate hard for your starting salary, because annual raises are small and usually won't keep up with inflation, particularly if you live in the city. Bonus targets in the US vary widely from category to category. If you are considering an offer, ask firmly what the achieved number on the bonus target was for the past several years. In a number of categories, new hires have been sorely disappointed vs what they were pitched in interviews. There's a continuous, relentless focus on cost cutting coupled with multiple reorgs in a short period of time that has taken its toll on morale. Benefits and perks have steadily eroded, and fundamental elements of project budgets have become affected. More and more has been asked of people, with less given. Some parts of the organization are much better about career management and advancement than others, but you need to come in knowing it is a true pyramid structure. In some cases, the structure more resembles a plank of wood with a pole sticking out of it. An internal promotion may involve interviewing against a dozen others locally in addition to anybody from overseas offices trying to come to the US. Do not necessarily plan on getting a promotion in 4-5 years. It may take much longer, depending on your role. The culture is what it is. It's a friendly, generally pleasant place to work, but if you are looking for a team feel, you likely wont' get that here. Younger people tend to live in the city, others in the suburbs, so this isn't a place where you will go out for drinks with your coworkers very often. You leave and head home as fast as you can since the office is not centrally located. Also, there's a lot of internal movement and moderate turnover, so knowledge can be hard to sustain. Work-life balance varies by team and function. You may find yourself on frequent late night and early morning calls with overseas teams on one team, and 9-5 hours on another. Burnout is common, but not universal. If you like open offices, good news, but if you don't, be aware it's what is called internally an "agile" work environment, meaning you have no set place to sit and need to find a different desk each day. It can be noisy and difficult to concentrate at times, since you may find yourself sitting literally at a plain table with 20 other people, and making phone calls can be challenging given limited number of phone rooms. This contributes to people working at home frequently.
