Here are the things that ultimately forced me to split (on my own volition, not fired):
1. Awful, awful politics. Worse than I have seen at any other company. I attribute this to multiple people in upper management who have been there for a very long time, don't like each other, and "tribalize" their employees. Seriously, it's a pretty bad scene on the political front. The Mechanical Engineering group are like a cult, and not the good kind.
2. Inability to retain female talent in the Product Development group. I have a feeling if someone from Shure responds to this, they will come back with some corporate platitude of "we have scaled up our diversity and inclusion efforts, and are actively leveraging blah, blah, blah......" It's a good old boy's club (I am male, for reference), and I saw three separate female employees leave product development in one year due to inability to advance, politics, and underwhelming workload. I think they are down to 2 females in the entire PD group. That's not normal.
3. Bad habits of the boomer generation passed on to the young talent, hence my headline of "good place to retire". I saw a lot of smart young folks learn how to drag their feet, go slow, and not ask any questions due to the weird culture that propagates throughout the ranks. Don't start your career here, but come after you have done something truly exciting, and are ready to slow your pace down. The lack of accountability in many projects is perfect for someone who is looking to wind down their sunset years with little to no urgency.
4. Everything is being OEM'd, and you might find yourself babysitting an overseas vendor, whilst doing very little actual design work. Frankly speaking, I found working with suppliers in Asia to be a breath of fresh air compared to the internal groups that would normally do the same work in the US. The Asian suppliers and Suzhou office were on the ball, hungry for work, and ready to solve problems. It might turn out that you get better products from Shure-rebranded OEMS.
5. HR is not there to help you out. Don't think for a second they are in your corner, as they are there to support management. I had almost no contact with them during my tenure, but I saw a lot of low level people get burnt by unscrupulous HR people. Watch out. It's probably like that everywhere, so apply this suggestion to anywhere you go.
