Ventajas
1. Good physical environment, safety and facilities. 2. Reasonable salary and benefits (tax free for most nationalities). 3. Reasonable work life balance, although in some areas travelling schedules can be demanding.
Desventajas
1. The top management is mostly made of political appointees parachuted from the outside. Unfortunately, since governments hardly ever send their best employees to regional development banks, the result is that the management of ADB is made of second or third tier bureaucrats who rarely have any leadership skills or vision. And even when they are indeed competent professionals, their knowledge usually happens to be in fields which have nothing to do with the areas of expertise they are supposed to supervise. 2. Political decisions and nepotism are pervasive and real career progression is reserved for certain groups (e.g. specific nationalities and groups - such as women - which the 'management' decides to favour through affirmative actions) or individuals who are politically well connected. Those who do not belong to any specific interest group and have not spent their working lives ingratiating themselves to members of the 'management' will actually hit the glass ceiling very soon and may even be asked to leave unless they gracefully acquiesce to the status quo. Actual merit and competence have no bearing on the career progression of the staff in ADB and selection procedures and decisions are murky to say the least. 3. To make things worse, every employee is encouraged to rotate to areas of the bank which he or she has no knowledge of. This is because, in the eye of the 'management', the perfect bureaucrat is a generalist who can talk about anything without really knowing anything. This is typical of the Japanese bureaucracy, which is the prevailing culture in ADB. You are therefore likely to enter the organisation with a specific set of skills and see, during the course of your 'career', your skills diluted by the tasks you are required to perform in a constant effort to convert you into a harmless 'yes man' who knows how to make his or her boss shine. 4. Despite the lip service paid to fairness, equal opportunities, talent management, due process etc, international organisations (including ADB) are among the worst offenders when it comes to treating employees fairly and justly. Why? Because ADB (like all international organisations) is not bound by the labour laws of any country and is free to conceive, design, implement and change its own rules in the form of ever changing, self serving administrative orders which the management interprets to its own convenience and regularly fails to respect. The administrative orders of ADB are poorly drafted, contradictory, and often overruled by memoranda imposed by the management on an ad hoc basis without adequate conceptualisation and dissemination within the organisation. When a dispute arises (from a minor disciplinary measure to being fired for alleged misconduct or unsatisfactory performance), staff have no other recourse but to submit the case to an administrative tribunal whose members are paid by the ADB itself and which will rule on its favour in an overwhelming majority of cases. The decisions of the administrative tribunals cannot be appealed and are not subject to the scrutiny of any independent legal authority, thus subjecting staff to abuses of all sorts. The whole system lacks accountability for management's abuses against staff as nobody can effectively challenge it and its 'rules'. Furthermore, staff may be subjected (without them knowing) to lengthy and invasive investigations on alleged misconduct which may lead to disciplinary measures or worse. Such investigations, which are conducted internally, are often devoid of due process and may be triggered by anonymous allegations put forward by anyone (internal or external) who may have a grudge against a staff and be motivated by personal reasons. This creates a fertile ground for personal vendettas and an atmosphere of suspicion. 5. The irrelevance of development institutions (and regional development banks in particular) in todays' world is testified by the appalling level of poverty still existing in the very countries in which they have their headquarters. Very often greedy and corrupt local government officials are the main beneficiaries of the funds disbursed by the agency, with little or no benefit to the poor. As a result, the management of these institutions (and the ADB's as well) have come under increased pressure to show to donor governments, who are becoming increasingly sceptical about the usefulness of these institutions, that costs are contained and effectiveness enhanced. Unfortunately, because of the reasons outlined above, the result of this pressure is a relentless and indiscriminate squeeze on existing staff's compensation, allowances and professional development while millions are still being squandered on useless endeavours such as the expansion of the headquarters building or sudden surges in the recruitment of new staff. These facts are beginning to take their toll on the institution's image and reputation as high flying potential candidates are turning more and more to private sector organisations which offer a much more rewarding and challenging environment (although more risky in terms of job security). 6. Working for a regional bank in a developing country for a prolonged period of time will cut you off any job market apart from that of other international organisations (in fact no respectable private sector organisation will ever touch anybody who has spent more than a couple of years in a public sector organisation such as ADB), will dilute your skills and make you lose connection with your home country. The only skills you will be able to enhance are your ability to draft elaborate (yet empty) memoranda using the correct jargon and paraphrasing approved slogans; reach consensus on precious little nothing; talk in a way which smothers controversies, offends nobody and reassures everybody; work your way up through appropriate social activities.