Unusual and often frustrating corporate culture, but a lot of freedom
Pros
-It's very easy to move around within this company to gain exposure to other areas or to seek more fulfilling work experiences. You can build an impressive array of skills in this company just by changing jobs every couple years when there's an internal opening. -Good work-life balance. Interesting opportunities sometimes arise, such as working overseas in a remote office. Compensation packages in these cases are astoundingly generous. -While all offices are gossipy, work politics is almost never malicious or back-biting. A real culture of family values that extends to colleagues. I've made some great personal friends working here. -A few extremely bright scientists and engineers can make work here enjoyable if you're lucky enough to work with them. -Allegations of misconduct, ethics violations, or harassment are taken very seriously. -Reasonable regular pay. -Fairly diverse work force (as semiconductor companies go)
Cons
-Work-life balance possibly *too* good. Good luck trying to find someone in the office after 3pm on a Friday. - Past hiring decisions have confused me. Some painfully stupid people seem to hang onto their jobs for years here. Lest you attribute my accusation to a personal vendetta, I once had a PhD chemist ask me in all seriousness why snow only falls on the top of mountains. -Industry followers, despite their official religious texts. -Bloated expenditures on long-serving support staff like HR. I don't understand why it takes so many people to administer a company this small. -Headquarters situated in the owner's hometown, which is unfortunately in the absolute middle of nowhere. If you like greasy fast food, speeding semi trucks, deer-blasting rednecks, and having to drive two hours to see real civilization, this is the place for you. Consequently, cost of living is dirt cheap, which is great if you never plan to move to a city the rest of your life. -American exceptionalism thrives. Sometimes very difficult to get management to take non-US customer demands seriously. -Sometimes feels like working in a weird social experiment rather than a business. -For the industry, meagre to non-existent bonus structure.
