Pros
BlackRock has an incredible industry reputation, high bar of achievement and work ethic and fanatic approach to productivity. The environment is focussed on revenue, expenses and projected short-term growth. Relative to what is happening in the industry, downward margin pressure and potential consolidation, BlackRock has very competitive pay and benefits.
Cons
The culture has become very top-down in terms of decision-making. The cost of getting promoted is to wait until your "taken out" politically or continue to fight another day. A company with great potential and very, very smart people but misses completely on a culture of teamwork and collaboration. Innovation is on a downward trajectory because of the culture. The compensation isn't standardized and very opaque - while it's more generous compared to industry standards, the lack of transparency and consistency creates a divisive and back-stabbing culture.