Pluspunten
Skilled and passionate technicians are willing to teach you new skills. At least at the location where I work, perpetually understaffed means there is usually an open position available. The overwhelming workload and unending addition of duties means that the shifts/weeks/months go by extraordinarily quickly, if you are looking for something like that. Never a dull or idle moment. Teams can be closely trauma-bonded, albeit while tending towards tight-knit cliques. Supervisors seem to want to bring about positive change for their teams, despite usually being blocked in their endeavors by lab direction.
Minpunten
Overworked colleagues gives rise to elevated levels of tension in the work place. Being understaffed means that action cannot be taken to reprimand or correct unprofessional and/or abusive bullying workplace behaviors from those in "in-demand" positions. Zero wage transparency and coordination among lab managers leads to complete insult as new hires, regardless of relevant experience, to be paid wildly differing starting salaries- leading to tension, rivalry, and dissatisfaction among coworkers.