Ventajas
Many months back we got new leadership, CEO, CTO, etc. When they first came on, they gave similar speeches about paying down technical, improving testing, code ownership, etc that everyone else has ever said in the past. But a few months ago they really made previously taboo long term tech-culture issues center stage. I am happy to say that in the last month or so, I have seen first hand many of these improvements start to happen. It is painful right now, but they are pushing extremely hard for testing, training, ownership, and overall just taking the time to do thing correctly. I have been with Renaissance Learning for over a decade, love the people, but this is the first time I've seen such dedication to doing the Right Thing(tm). There is a long road ahead and plenty to do, but I am extremely happy that the company is firmly taking the stance that quality matters. They are not just forcing quality on us, they are also providing many resources to further educate and train. Some of our more talented software engineers have been tasked with spending the majority of their time, for now, consulting individual teams with identifying pain points and designing and planning solution both technical and educational to fix those problems. Along with educating us with what other teams are doing for certain types of issues. There are many many plans for improvement on all kinds of issues. They will all take time, but they are constantly identifying new areas of pain and moving forward. I'm giving 4/5 because of the current monumental amount of work to get done and lack of personal recognition from management even though with whom I work recognize me. I am hopeful these will change, but have not yet. Benefits where I live are great. Pay is "ok", but well above median. A new benefit is a few thousand $$$$/year towards covering any credits you take for classes at an accredited learning institution that pertains to your job. There is been talk, but nothing in stone, about $$$$/year towards existing student debt. This would be great for us who still carry student debt from prior to working here. Just an example of how they at least think about us.
Desventajas
Mounds of technical debt left over from prior leadership. Difficult transition ahead of us.