Pros
1. The people. There really are some awesome people that work there. 2. It's never boring. In all my years, I can't once remember being bored. 3. The benefits. 401k, medical insurance, disability, etc. are all great. 4. Performance bonus for salaried employees. It's of significant size, although an argument can easily be made that it doesn't come close to compensating for all the hours over 40 you'll work.
Cons
1. Work/life balance. Less than 50 hours/week is uncommon. 60+ happens more frequently than it should. I could deal with it if I were being payed for it, or receiving comp time, or if it only happened every few months, but it's not ok to work these hours week after week without pay. And contrary to what management will tell you if you make a comment about it, the bonus absolutely does not cover that extra time. 2. Vacation. It is about normal for a blue collar factory worker, but it is WAY below average for a salaried professional engineer. Again, management will make an excuse that it's "competitive with other positions in the area". If you do any looking around the bigger cities near the plants (like Raleigh for the Creedmoor location, or Kansas City for the St. Joseph location, or Asheville for the Burnsville plant) , you'll find that that's not true. 3. Micromanagement. It is horrendous. Having my boss's boss's boss inquiring daily (literally, he'd email or call me EVERY day) about how I'm coming along on a tiny project is ridiculous. 4. Lack of recognition of good work, and lack of discipline for bad work. Seeing lazy, incompetent know-nothings get promoted, while hardworking, smart engineers stay stagnant in their position because they aren't willing to be a yes-man, is the biggest morale killer ever. It's why I left.
