Pros
The benefits are better than most. Excellent 401K and medical. The leadership in the first group in which I worked was excellent with strong technical competency. The second group totally political lacking any sense of respect for the employee. There were several great opportunities for one to learn new things, processes and technologies. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the wonderful people in the various areas. My first two supervisors were awesome.
Cons
There is little to no commitment by upper management or corporate to the employee with regard to job security. Medtronic's annual lay-offs reduced the Medtronic Microelectronics Center from a world-class company to just another Motorola laying off loyal and PRODUCTIVE employee that have been with the company literally decades. This "top-grading" practice that has been in practice for about a decade has killed the "passion for excellence" employees generally always had. Once the layoffs started, the traditional high level of pride people held because they worked at MMC, was quashed overnight. This is quite a departure from what the founders described in their mission statement, in other words walk the talk. Decisions used to be pushed down to the lowest level possible as that is where the working knowledge base lives. In the "old days" an operator on the production line had the authority to stop the line if something was not right or quality came into questions. No longer. The minions have no voice, and they are where the rubber meets the road and from which the products and profits are made.