Pros
1) recognizable name - looks good on the resume 2) Best benefits package I'd ever seen or heard of 3) Good job stability - Garmin is very reluctant to lay people off 3) Great people who generally want to work through issues properly 4) Lack of a "commit" culture - someone else usually slips the schedule, so keeping up is pretty easy if you're not in SW engineering.
Cons
1) Frequent restructuring leaves some with demotions or re-starting in parallel jobs instead of having the opportunity to move up 2) Management structure is too short - not much room for career growth & Sr. Management is *way* too involved in day-to-day operations 3) Management philosophy is 3-5-4. 3 people do the work of 5 but get paid as if they are 4 people. Particularly in SW engineering, this means working very long hours & some weekends. Also the concept of competitive pay levels seems off - I've heard 3-5-2 from some experienced engineers who gave up & left. 4) I think the future of the company is in jeopardy for the following reasons: 4.1) Management overly focused on profit margins (at expense of product specs or competitive pricing) and is increasingly putting out high cost, under spec'ed products 4.2) Increasing margins by reducing fixed costs seems to be an absent thought - many processes are stuck in 90's levels of efficiency 4.3) lack of a "commit" culture. Sr. management too ready to give up on new business ideas (only tried 2 years once they got a phone to market.) 4.4) lack of marketing research as a driver for product development & company direction. Philosophy seems to be "if we build it, they will come". Maybe in the past, but the golden years are almost over...