Pros
In whatever capacity your company remains autonomous once being acquired by ION there can be some real pros. Your team looks out for you and they and your immediate managers genuinely care. You can build great friendships and there are some really genuine and smart people , though many have moved on by now. Depending on what company you were with "pre-Ion" you may have some very nice grandfathered in benefits and fair pay. Benefits are mostly good and on par with industry standards. You'll get a chance to work with all the big players in the financial/fintech space from Tier1 banks, vendors, etc. Great opportunity to network for when you inevitably move on to greener pastures. Once you're proven and trusted you have autonomy and are not micromanaged. Due to the hemorrhaging of employees you have an opportunity to get involved in many different projects and departments and can become a top performer.
Cons
Toxic ION management strives to get its tentacles into every aspect of a business and squeeze all the joy and life out of them for the sole purpose of capital extraction. There's a sense of resignation throughout the company that its just a matter of muddling through and getting your paycheck. Expectations are very low that management will ever make a decision that makes either their employees or their customers happy. Post-acquisition most "ION companies" seem to lose half their employees and ION has little interest in replacing them so the work load just builds and customers and staff grow increasingly frustrated. This results in lots of departures and those who remain slump further into ambivalence. It's a shame since there are talented people left. Communication from management is nonexistent until they want to deliver some bad news like "time to come back to the office next week" after two years of utter silence during Covid. There is no communication regarding raises or bonuses until a week or two before they happen (even though you probably wrote your performance review 6 months earlier). The overarching plan from management seems to be praying that the spit and duct tape holding the company together will last long enough for them to go public and get a nice big payday (likely none of which will trickle to the employees)
