Cost-cutting has driven away many strong contributors
Pros
In the early-to-mid 2000s, market conditions enabled the company to retain multiple strong design teams. Innovation was encouraged, for example, by awarding bonuses for patents. The sabbatical program was generous: 8 weeks paid vacation after every 7 years. Work-life balance is good, except for the inevitable need for late night meetings due to design teams spread over multiple time zones.
Cons
Many good employees left after taking their final sabbatical when management ended the program in the early 2010s. Cost-cutting, in the form of regular layoffs, forced many of the best engineers out. Getting communication from design teams halfway across the world became more difficult. The fundamental problem is that the traditional market -- CPU/GPU for desktop and laptop machines -- isn't growing fast enough.
