Positive work-life balance overshadowed by job insecurity - Principal Software Engineer Oracle Employee Review

It is very team dependent, but at least my team had great work life balance and good culture. It was easy to take time off, work was meaningful and not too stressful.

Work from home is discouraged, little to no pay increases yearly, yearly layoffs and stack ranking.

Every group/division can be different in how they treat their employees, but I'd say overall there is very good atmosphere of trust and fairness. There is a strong focus on education, and they reimburse for outside classes taken (Up to 5k/year I think). Benefits are good, and I'd say quite competitive in the market. Good 401K matching (they'll contribute a max of 3% of your 6% or greater). Free drinks in the breakroom. Flexibility to work from home at times. (If you live 50+ miles away from an office you can work full-time from home...policy).

They don't try to make the workplace anything special (maybe a pool table and arcade game are cliche or gimmicky?). In the 10 years I've worked there, they've given 2 measly %1 cost of living raises (this is the same with most everyone I've spoken to, some don't get any raises). You will not get a substantial raise ever, unless you leave then get rehired on (they will not match offers, better to leave). New employees that you train will make 10 - 20K more than you several years after you hire on (not just me, they do this to all tenured employees). They will give these untrained, less experienced people higher titles (again this is done to everyone not just me). You learn pretty quickly that you're dispensable. The company has billions in cash and they don't re-invest in their employees, just in acquiring new companies and hiring new people that know nothing that you get to train.