Didn’t read till the end but I would say: you know you’re in a big company when you get decent salary. Small to medium enterprises pay for the same job only almost half (at least in Germany).
It depends. An acquaintance of mine is switching jobs from a big agency to a dedicated, but very small agency. She will work way below 40 hours a week while earning significantly more as now with 40 hours.
I know. This is n=1. Not data, only anecdata.
IBM offers are notoriously under-market in America for junior to mid level engineers
Funny that it is the other way around in our country. Larger companies play on recognizability, stability and have well ironed-out processes requiring less skilled employees. While in smaller and mid-sized companies the experts (experienced employees) are the main driving force.
Blue collar workers are unionized in big companies. It’s good for everybody’s salary, but sometimes they demand too much. I am curious, what they will demand in coming years when economy is cooling down.