Atheros Reviews

Pros

Engineering, technology oriented company
Great leadership and vision from CEO

Cons

Atheros policy to moving R&D overseas

Advice to Senior Management

Finding a balance between cost reduction and retaining technology

Pros

work environment Management team technology is top notch

Cons

Not much. Late hours qualcomm purchase

Pros

Atheros has some of the best employees! Many people are friendly, personable, and intelligent. There are a lot of interactions among employees, and it is very common that people converse in hallways, at cubicles, and other areas. The culture is very lax and informal, which is very refreshing and easy to breath. For the most part, self expression is open, and employees have the freedom to be who they are.

Cons

Atheros is very bad at handling low performers, and many of whom end up staying at the company for longer than they should. Management lacks leadership abilities and normally avoids confrontation, hence the ineffectiveness in managing the low performers. There have been cases where low performers get recognized and even promoted because management has no idea how their employees perform! While many employees are nice at Atheros, there are some very bitter and arrogant people who spread so much negativity and politics. Management are well aware of these bitter souls, but management does not do anything about it. This is how the company loses some of the nicest and most intelligent people, and sadly the undeserving people continue to stay and collect their paychecks.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to investigate each department and have confidential conversations with employees, ensurimg them that they will not be reprimanded for being honest. It's better to have someone impartial doing these investigations/audits like an external consulting firm or internal audit team. There are many growing pains as the company is growing quickly, so it is advised that management gives employees more resources so that workload is manageable and stress level is at a moderate level. Management needs more rigorous trainings from an external consulting company (not internal HR) so that you will be better leaders who are up for the challenge of not only growing the company, but most importantly, care more for the employees. Remember that good employees are hard to find and harder to retain, so make sure you recognize the talents and let go of the low performers without hesitation. This is part of effective workforce management, and Atheros is too good for bad employees and ineffective management.

Pros

-Great management
-Small company culture
-Open door policy
-Few meetings:)
-Lots of knowledge exchange
-Wonderful people
-Great importance on work-family balance

Cons

-Work is sometimes slow
- Some businesses get better treatment over the other

Advice to Senior Management

Continue what you are doing :)

Pros

Quality co-worker performance and knowledge.

Cons

Limited resources.
Location.
Distribution of some key engineering resources.

Advice to Senior Management

Emphasis on strategic growth.

Pros

Close to home and pay employees fair

Cons

Career advancement is minimal due to low personnel turnover.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

Atheros really cares about their employees

Cons

Some departments seem to get preferential treatment over others

Advice to Senior Management

Really look at the work each individual is doing, don't just look at what department that individual is associated with

Pros

- the wireless market is hot
- technology driven
- employees are nice to work with

Cons

- the place is chaotic with lack of clear direction and leadership
- there are many good manager and as many or more bad managers
- senior leadership does not really know what's going on at lower level
- people that are contributing are ignored and the ones that don't do work get promoted/recognized
- a lot of fire-fighting with no clear project schedule or strategy
- watch out for back-stabbing managers that will sacrifice their employees for their own advancements and agendas

Advice to Senior Management

- spend time to recognize key teams and individuals who are working hard and helping the company
- get rid of incompetent middle managers and allow productive people to step up