Pros
Safety regulations are strict, lab equipments are mostly well maintained. The building is maintained very well, always in tip top cleanliness even before covid. There appears to be good staff interest activities from time to time. Working hours are flexible. There is a good opportunity for learning if your schedule allows for attendance in seminars. (This is based only on one lab which I'd worked in) Despite the hierarchy, most postdocs encourage RAs to participate in project discussions and generally value our skillset. RAs are generally get the opportunity to work independently. The in-house supply store is rather well stocked. There is a good culture of helping one another out among labs, irregardless of being in different departments.
Cons
(This is based only on one lab which I'd worked in) There are quite a handful of members who really require anger management therapy or psychiatric help. Postdoc with aggressive behaviour and temper outbursts often malign others, often misconstrue ongoings in the lab to the PI. The lab had lost several outstanding postdocs and RAs because of these malicious sabotages, and project stealing. PI had failed to protect lab members and made a poor judgement call to promote someone who clearly lacks maturity, leadership qualities, and emotional/mental stability. Lab members generally remain silent after verbal and emotional abuse, in fear of retribution from the perpetrator who will worsen the bullying. A lot of inappropriate and highly unprofessional behaviours had been observed over the years. Most common observation throughout the past years are ostracism, temper tantrums, extreme favouritism, emotional manipulation through gifting, and poaching RAs they have befriended from other labs. HR's mismanagement in overlooking repeated offence could partly be due to personal friendship with perpetrator. There is no safe channel for staff to express their distress. There are also members who smash objects in the lab or slam doors or objects around the building (though to clarify, never at people). Whistle-blowing policy covers a wide range of unacceptable misconducts, including mismanagement of funds, falsifying data, and physical abuse. Unless you are ready to record all of your time spent in the lab to gather evidence of abuse, you won’t be taken seriously. The salary is not enticing, and the finance department is not efficient in reimbursing claims.