Pros
The inner workings of SAS are quite like what is shown in the show "Downton Abbey". Employees from "landed gentry" families (e.g. well off, or the parents knew the founders) are quickly identified and networked amongst the other employees from the "titled classes". These employees become part of the "in crowd" and are often fast-tracked to management. This is regardless of competence or merit. If you are a "fortunate son or daughter", you will do well here. Very well, indeed. The grounds are beautiful. The newer buildings that host customer meetings are very nice. Employees still have real offices with real doors instead of cubicles and dreadful "open office" plans. People complain about pay and compensation at SAS. That didn't seem to be an issue for me, although I considered the money "hazard pay" for what I had to put up with.
Cons
Employees who are not of the landed gentry class are much like the servants at Downton. Loyalty to the faux Lords and Ladies is cherished above all else. Loyal servants receive the promotions, rewards, and perks, regardless of competence or technical proficiency. Employees can move from the "Servant" class to the "Titled" classes (management) but it is extremely rare. Unless you are of the landed gentry, or the most loyal of servants, this is a "job", not a "career". Do not expect professional advancement here. It can happen, but it is uncommon. Information flows via backchannel gossip. Little groups huddle together in the cafeterias at lunch to gossip, strategize, and scheme. The faux Lords and Ladies receive reports from their loyal charges and work with them to manipulate situations behind the scenes. No communications are up front, and nobody other than those in the little cliques knows what's truly going on. What employees are told to by upper management to deliver and what is actually expected is often odds; only those in the little cliques knows what the real marching orders truly are. Gas lighting and freezing people out are popular tactics here, especially if a competent employee is reliant on receiving information from an incompetent manager. This is a dying company with a few ancient products keeping the lights on. Some of the newer products seem to be developed more to satisfy the pipe dreams and egos of the faux Lords and Ladies. What the customers needed seemed to be ignored. Development teams excelled at churning out the same effluent year after year without substantive improvements. Development always looked for the easy way out or minimal solutions, often shortchanging the customer or future product growth. Updates from Executive Management seem to be nothing more than staged cheerleading infomercials designed to keep the loyal internal acolytes chanting "Baaaa!" If a faux Lord presented a pipe dream product to a university student group and they applauded at the end of the presentation, then the applause was presented as "market excitement about the product" instead of polite post-presentation ritual. Confirmation bias, normalcy bias, and groupthink at it's worst. HR is not there for employees. They are there to protect the faux Lords and Ladies. Do not contact them for anything other than party planning advice.
