Where to start...
1)Going back to the gym. Yes they have one but if you can actually find time to use then you must not have a lot to do at Cree or are some how flying under the radar and haven't been noticed so that they can give you more work.
2) About the managers being flexible with your time in office and out office...you are expected to be available 24/7, including holidays, weekends, and vacation. Especially if you support manufacturing in China and/or Malaysia.
3) Oh that bonus...If you are exempt (not including the CEO) you can get a quarterly bonus if the company makes their goals that quarter (only got a bonus twice in the eight quarters I was there and one of those was pity bonus because we had gone 5 straight quarters without a bonus). Non exempt employees and the CEO get a yearly bonus if the company shows growth year over year so if each quarter you don't make your goal but still have growth at the end of the year, Chuck still gets to line his pockets with his 7-8 figure bonus.
3A) Regarding stocks they are one of a few companies in the area that actually offer stock options. The only problem I had was all my stocks unvested at a price $20 over the current stock price so when some of them get vested (1/3 is vested every year) they were useless.
4) There is no work/life balance at Cree if you have a meaningful position in the company. Most of those people work 10+ hours a day including weekends. You are expected to be available at night, holidays and vacations. Very few managers (<5%) actually make an effort to try and give their employees time off work just to unwind and recharge but even they run into hurdles and can't keep their promise 100% of the time.
5) If you are not an Engineer you will find opportunities very hard to come by. Some people with no Engineering background do move up or at the very least get opportunities to work in other departments in a lateral move. However those opportunities are very rare. 90% of all management is filled with Engineers..just let that sink in.
6) You have to be part of the "good ole' boy" network to not get stepped on repeatedly. If you are not part of this network then your time at Cree will more miserable then normal.
7) For a technology company they act more like its 1998. They run their manufacturing out of Excel for the most part. They have some software but it's cumbersome and in the case of Oracle they are only using 25% of it's capability. It has to make a lot of home grown software to try and patch together the company. Also don't go into Cree thinking that you can introduce some new software that will make everything better because they will not spend the money (instead they spend it on food and alcohol at two company events).
8) Also if you see any 4 and 5 star reviews for Cree on this website they are almost always written by Recruiting for Cree or someone that Recruiting asked to write a positive review. Yes they have asked current employees to write a positive review for Cree in Glassdoor.
