Pros
Fascinating projects There is an awareness that the work is having a positive impact on society Smaller teams, and really smart people. The culture is one of respect, politeness, and for the most part is non-hostile (at least in Health & Analytics) Mostly a stress-free, happy work environment (when you are not stressed out about losing your job)
Cons
Very odd environment, extremely introverted. A workplace where people shut their doors all day and rarely come out except to eat and use the bathroom. Hard to make friends. A revolving door. Seems like people are always being downsized and new people coming in. The net/net is that the company is shrinking A lot of competition between departments. Seems like they fight over scraps, grants, etc. Lots of turf wars. The oddest thing with Battelle is that it feels like employment there is a game of musical chairs - All researchers are responsible for finding their own work. When one comes off a project, it is up to then to find more work. Since there seems to be less and less work, there are always people that come off projects that cannot get on new projects. Makes for a strange working environment. Technology-wise, there are a lot of old-timers that have a lot of influence on technology usage, this group is slow to adopt new technologies. Felt like my technical skills eroded. Odd to work for the analytics group using technologies that are 10 years old.