Pros
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) has a very casual office culture at their VTC development center. Arriving at a meeting within 5 to 10 minutes of the start acceptable. Attire is casual, even the first and second level managers wear blue-jeans. Everyone is friendly, breakfast is provided on Wednesdays. Coffee and beverages are provided gratis every day. SWIFT is not a corporation, so they don't answer to share-holders, but is a cooperative of the world's banks, and so are providing a service to banks. Their goal is to decrease the cost of their services on a yearly basis. SWIFT started in Belgium, and headquarters are there, and so the organization has that European outlook on employees and benefits. Permanent employees are rarely let go or laid off. Benefits for those employees are great.
Kontras
At SWIFT's U.S. development center, VTC, schedules are usually chosen by management for the developers, and the developers are expected to meet those schedules, no matter how poorly chosen the dates are, so this can mean long hours for employees. The work-life balance under those conditions is poor. The senior local management has been in place for some time, and there are not many opportunities for upward movement. Some in local management are near retirement, but those in the lower management positions, who have the same philosophies about managing, will be moving up into those positions.