Pros
9/80 work week gives you every other Friday off. This is invaluable for doctor/banking/whatever that requires you to be there during the work week. Good pay Interesting work (usually)
Cons
It is rare that anyone works more than one thing at a time -- usually for several years. So "new and exciting" can become "routine and boring". Managers get promoted based on the success of their teams. This may sound logical at first, but I have seen some very good leaders held back because they were assigned to impossible programs. Worse, GOOD team members get nothing while their incompetent "leader" gets promoted because of the work of the minions. Don't expect to get promoted because of excellent work. I am baffled every year when I see bad engineers get promoted while the good ones get a 3% raise and nothing else. Tucson is a one horse town. If you want to look for a different job, you have to sell your house and move to another city or state. Innovation is dangerous. Management preaches innovation, but is so scared of anything new that they force you to so things the same way they've been done on every program since the 80's (or older) Promotions and raises are determined by people who don't even know what the individual contributors are doing.