Pluspunten
Solid performing company. Few large companies have the financial performance of this company, over short- and long-term. Focused - does not stray into extraneous areas without deliberation or make trendy moves. Somewhat dependent on department, but generally decent atmosphere to work in, with some modern-day trends coming into existence recently (work-from-home, etc.). People are proud to work for the company and many stay a long time. Makes products that make peoples lives better.
Minpunten
Salaries are probably a bit below-average. Other non-salary benefits (e.g. hours, 401(k) match) offset this somewhat although the company is gradually downgrading the non salary/S&I perks. The company is very old-fashioned, and, presumably like at most companies, double-standards exist. Recently stopped forcing men to wear suits (finally caught on that it's 2016) but men wear business dress while women wear whatever they want (tank tops and flip flops in summer). Atmosphere is stressful and cold - people often do not even say hello to each other in the halls. Cynicism and sourness abound. This has only gotten much more pronounced over the last couple years with the attempt to cost-cut their way to profits and shuttle jobs oversees. Most Finance people are overworked (although it never gets to "sweat-shop"-type hours) and that probably adds to stress, and there is very little collegiality and career development anymore - no one has time for it! Cost-cutting also left those who didn't get cut feeling like they had to validate their existence with "work analyses" done by high-powered consultants. There also is a veil of secrecy and guardedness from both HR and upper management. Cost cutting even means some departments have moved floors twice in the last two years as they decrease the amount of space they lease, and many people have lost offices and even VPs have had their offices downgraded. All this cost-cutting frittering away at the edges (and morale) when they could just move from Park Avenue (we're not in the age of Mad Men anymore) to the existing facility in Parsippany and save dollars worth talking about. HR is not very good on the whole and neither is IT. It's almost impossible to know where to turn with an HR question. IT service is horrendous. This has only gotten worse with the move to a Mexican shared service center. Management skills are poor and managers are not trained to lead. Most annoying thing at the company is they pat themselves on the back so much with cliches and jargon about Managing with Respect and Colgate Values and then they cut people and let unskilled managers still exist. The company does a terrible job at training managers to manage. There are managers who are not very good at managing and have made poor hiring decisions and generally seek no input from their subordinates. They are not recognizing the talent right in front of them. Promotion is not good (because it costs money to promote people) and there are no staff in certain Finance departments, thus leaving managers doing staff/senior analyst level work. Premium is placed on ethnic diversity, even to the exclusion of attaining the most diverse (university-wise) talent.