Company: Oracle
Date: 2015-08-26
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Oracle Microelectronics - Hardware Engineer
Pros: 1. Competitive starting salary for the first 2 yrs along with the flex credits and 401k matching. RSUs instead of stock options starting 2015.
 
2. Good place to get your US status.

3. Decent training ground for the NCGs for the first 2-3 yrs. Quite a few talented/experienced engineers you can learn from. Work on the latest technology/tools.

4. Overall good work life balance. Stable job. A few managers/groups will make your life miserable.

5. Nice campus environment. Nice gym/sports groups. 

6. Brand recognition on the resume.
Cons: 1. No bonus. No salary raise at least for the first 2-3 yrs. When promotion comes, salary increases by at most ~5-6%). After 4-5 yrs, your salary will be significantly below the market standard. Other benefits if any are average to poor, ie. ESPP. 

2. NCGs are paid higher than the senior engineers (offers increase by ~$3-4k each yr while the salary of the seniors stays flat), due to Oracle's global talent strategy of capitalizing on fresh talents for their first 4 yrs, after which you're irrelevant to the company. 

3. Not a fertile environment for top talents and innovations, mainly due to the management who tends to reward obedience rather than performance. 

4. Lacks diversity. ~ 25% of the NCGs each yr come from the same school with similar background.

5. Rarely can return after leaving the company. Asked to sell all stocks/options after you leave. All benefits stop on your last day.  

6. No unshared office space for NCGs. Food quality and cost in the cafe is average.

7. Sensitive Intergroup politics. Moving between groups is rare if not impossible.