Companies come in all shapes and sizes. Plenty of businesses click on year after year with just a couple of employees, maybe only one! Meanwhile, giant corporations can employ hundreds of thousands of people – that’s like employing a couple hundred small towns. As you can imagine, the employees working at small businesses have a vastly different experience than ones working at a huge corporation. In this article, we’ll be discussing the pros & cons of working at a large company vs. a small company. Let’s get into it!
Working At A Large Company: The Pros
Working at a large company certainly has its’ benefits.
First off, there’s typically a clear path for career advancement. Large corporations have internal hierarchies of all the types of positions they have. This provides a cut-and-dry idea of what the title directly above you entails and the people who presently hold it. This holds true all the way to upper management.
With these hierarchies comes transparency in other areas. Things like yearly time off, bonus shares and salary are often known by many of the employees in the office. While they might not know specifics, there’s usually a ballpark understanding of each positions ‘dirty details’.
Speaking of these details, large companies offer decent 401k, company stock options and other benefits too. This also includes medical insurance.
Large companies aim to be as competitive as possibly, and are often publicly traded. Because of this, they invest heavily into anything that’ll give the company an edge. This edge can include additional training and continued education of it’s employees, along with modern work spaces and up-to-date tech.
In order to be competitive, they must also attract talented employees. Large companies have incentive to offer market-rate salaries to attract the best employees over their competitors.
Along with a clear corporate structure and transparency comes organization. Large companies typically standardize the majority of their processes. In terms of the company, this helps keep things on track and theoretically avoid crazy (bad) surprises.
Working At A Big Company: The Cons
Like with anything in life, there are downsides to working at a large corporation, as well.
Since titles and positions are outlined so clearly, you essentially need to wait for a position ‘above’ you to open up in order to get a promotion. At a good company, the turnover won’t be all that frequent so you may have to wait a while for a better position to open up.
If you DO want to get a promotion on your own timeline, you may need to move to another state or even country in order to get it. Large companies usually have several locations – it may be difficult to get a promotion on when you want it while also getting comfortable where you live.
What we said about positions also applies to salary. Large companies typically give out substantial raises only where there’s a title change. They’ll pay the market rate for what your present position is, but this rarely changes more than 3% per year or so to keep up with inflation.
Since so many aspects of large companies are automated, there’s often little room for creativity. Most of the time, you’re supposed to do your job EXACTLY the way they want it done, paperwork and all. Of course, this is a blanket statement and not absolute, but you’ll probably experience more than a couple of Office Space-esq moments where you get steamrolled for an improper ‘TPS Report’. Corporate policies can get old quickly.
With such clear job requirements for every position, employees can become more like cogs in a machine at a large company. It may be a very good machine that runs well, but even so – there’s an element of anonymity where you feel out of sight and replaceable.
If your company is so large that it’s publicly traded, you could very well be replaced or laid off in times of economic struggle. Conversely, you may not WANT to stay if several of your coworkers are let go instead – you’ll be expected to shoulder more work during those hard times, lest you suffer their same fate.
Working At A Small Business: The Pros
In a small company, you begin to feel like part of a family. Everyone knows each other, works close to each other, and there’s little boundary between the freshest and top-ranking employee. This is a good and bad thing! For now, let’s call it good for its’ camaraderie and personal nature.
With this family feel comes more leniency in your work-life balance. Your boss is more likely to be understanding if you need to leave an hour early here and make it up there. They’ll probably know your family story and a fair about you, too. Family time!
A small company must fire on all cylinders in order to succeed. This includes all of its’ employees working well, too. In turn, you may feel more personally invested in the business and how well it does. Hopefully you’ll be credited for the success, too.
Another good-and-bad thing about working at a small company is that you’ll get to do all kinds of work. As a younger employee or someone looking to gain experience, this will work in your favor. You’ll become more well-versed in what it’s actually like to run a business rather than work at it, even if it’s just through observation.
When you’re an integral part of a small businesses’ operations, you’re less replaceable as compared to how a large company sees their employees. This can give you room to negotiate for a larger pay increase than just a cost of living adjustment or promotional boost. Sure, you’ll probably have to take on more work, but the ability to negotiate and dialogue over such things is a good problem to have.
Working At A Small Company: The Cons
We all love our families, but sometimes they drive us nuts. We drive them nuts, too. That’s the downside to the family aspect of a small company – you may feel TOO close with your coworkers at times. These difficulties are not unlike those you share with family, except you must work with them eight hours per day, all week long.
Unlike large companies, you probably won’t have a clear path for advancement at a smaller company. Unless someone is leaving or the company is planning to expand, you’ll probably be where you are for a long time. In this way, working at a small company can feel like a dead end.
Small companies really CAN be like family in some cases – many small companies are family-owned and operated. You may find yourself in the midst of an actual family spat when coworkers disagree. This can also play a factor as to who gets promoted, as opposed to skill and merit.
Although juggling many types of work is great to gain experience, it may not exactly reflect in the pay at times. While employees at large companies are heading home on time, you may be burning the midnight oil to keep the business moving. This should be reflected in your salary, bonuses, etc. but may not for some time.
Lastly, small companies may not be able to offer the types of benefits that a large company can. This includes health care, dental/vision, 401k, etc. Large companies have entire departments dedicated to facilitating and managing these benefits for employees. At a small company, they may not be offered at all, let alone at the level you’ll find at a corporation.
Working At A Large Company Vs. Small Company: Which Is Better?
We have to admit…we can’t answer this one for you. This totally depends on your own situation, location, preferences and industry. What I hope we have done is outline some benefits and drawbacks of working at a large company vs. small company that you may not have known before. I hope this article has been helpful and thanks a lot for reading!
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