Hold promise for new college grads, the opportunities fade to nothing over time
Pros
In major campuses like Oregon(Hillsboro). There are giant cafes in the office with free fruit/beverage/tea/ice makers. This really helps me not go without eating. Employee discounts on various things are often times quite good with Intel's various customers (laptops, tablets, phones, wireless carriers). The program is pretty efficient and you can easily find these discounts. There is a credit union ATM in the office locations this is an excellent benefit. The Intel ESPP used to give a good gain on 10% of income but its only 5% now, its a nearly sure-thing gain of 15%. Apparently nearly everyone who can afford it participates in the program. The Dental and Medical plans have been great over the years and have allowed me to save money and get free lab work from the health plan. I avoid paying for a physical and lab work each year with my doctor using the health for life option. Flu shots are available in the office, this is excellent hygiene for the employees. 2012 was the first year that i believe they did not charge for it. But it was worth paying for it. They also completed installation of a medical clinic in JF5 (Oregon) for employees in 2012. The Intel Group life insurance is a good option to let people carry insurance on the payroll. I really appreciate the voluntary upgrade nature that is offered to employees.
Cons
Intel has a ruthless review system. In the system they pidgin hole people into lower rankings and this means you get nothing for raises and may even be put on a corrective action plan if your unlucky enough to be targeted. They used to announce quotas for this in the past, but now the quota is unannounced and there is apparently a fixed budget. So these days 2010-2012 cycles the lower level organization must spend the budget and justify it to those who lose out. I feel like i've been targeted only once and given ho-hum reviews twice, and only one promotion. I can tell that we're chasing business and opportunities, but looking up the org chart i hear a lot of 'lets do that' and it comes with no additional people. When we use outsourcing its a mess and just makes more work for the existing employees. My organization had a very well talented intern quit and walk out! I am eternally frustrated and panicked almost every week about expectations which i have come to realize are unfair, unrealistic and causing me real physical and emotional harm. Its not that i'm weak, its that they ask too much and don't care if its chaos. My advise to folks is to negotiate very high if you want to work here, you could go years without raises or promotions.
