Medtronic in Northridge is a horribly racist place to work.
Pros
The science and engineering is not bad. The product serves a good purpose for diabetes patients.
Cons
The manufacturing floor is extremely racist. I worked in engineering, and was very upset and disheartened with the lack of respect with which some employees are treated. Talk about segregation. Most of the department's contract (no benefit, minimum wage) workers are minority workers (Asian, Latino, ie: not white). The people manufacturing the medical devices that are inserted into other people's bodies subcutaneously are getting paid as much as the people who flip your hamburgers at McDonalds. Many of them are there on visas and are afraid to speak out due to their immigration status and fear of deportation. Management is unnecessarily spiteful and demoralizing (sometimes even hateful) to these employees, and the workers must just keep their head down for fear of losing their jobs. Many of the workers are skilled at what they do and have been there for many years. They deserve more respect. Instead they generally look fearful and anxious of being yelled at, punished, or fired. Just because Medtronic isn't legally liable for these workers due to them being contracted out doesn't given them the right to treat them subhuman.
