Pros
Great gym. A lot of really nice and devoted and smart people in the lower ranks (operators, techs, engineers, and even some decent low-level managers). If you connect the right people on your own you can learn a lot about a wide variety of different subjects. Working with the latest technology (what little new equipment they allow to be purchased) is very fulfilling.
Cons
Cree (LED chips) had a significant technical edge on the competition for a number of years. Due to complete and utter mismanagement including the consistent reinforcement of a sadistic work environment, not listening to employees' concerns, treating quarterly revenue goals with more importance that customers, and many many more mind-blowing actions, that lead is gone. Now Cree is scrambling to catch up to the competition after taking their eye off the ball for so long. Employees are always expected to take up the slack for poor management decisions by changing roles, working double mandatory overtime, coming to work during ice storms under threat of termination, and taking personal time off for factory shutdowns when things are slow. HR is worthless and doesn't care about the employees. The work/life balance is horrible, raises are terrible year after year and promotions are rare (especially one where you actually get a new title and more money!), and there is little to no real professional development. Nobody in management or HR is open or honest enough to tell you where you stand. One week you're the golden child and the next one you're worthless. People don't communicate efficiently with one another, which causes dysfunction at all levels. At Cree, you are just a cog in a money-making wheel - the founders, board, and upper management are cashing in while you will be lucky to have your inflation-adjusted salary go up.
