Broadcom Reviews in Los Angeles, CA Area

Pros

The group I work in is filled with top-notch engineers. You can always learn something from someone. Not a sweatshop... great support from management to get work done in a timely manner. Good balance between life/work.

Cons

I work in a group that writes network drivers. The work is dictated by Broadcom's customers so there really is no innovation that occurs. Management is horrible at exposing roadmaps and intra/inter-group communication essentially is non-existent.

Advice to Senior Management

Enforce engineers to document their code. Keep all your teams "in the know".

Pros

they pay well for interns, but certain depts (wont be specific... its kind of a standard in this line of work anyway) can be a little tedious. they have a good gym, basketball court, general on site facilities. cutting edge state of the art equipment to work with -- i appreciated this alot when i was an intern.

Cons

job security. not much else.

Advice to Senior Management

good company, good internship experience.

Pros

Good reputation, above average benefits, mostly competent colleagues;

Cons

Long hours of work; over-time is common; middle managers lack leadership

Advice to Senior Management

Need to increase stock based compensation or nobody will work this hard for Broadcom any more

Pros

the company is a leader in advanced IC technology development
it has gathered some very high level talent, many of whom are great to work with
they seem to be making an honest effort to clean things up after their previous notorious record

Cons

Upper management is woefully out of touch with what is actually going on inside their lower echelons in terms of employee satisfaction and manager interaction; in the cases where they are aware or in touch, they don't seem to want to or be able to do anything to increase employee satisfaction
There is an under-current of mean-spiritedness among groups and individuals that is surprising at such a close-knit company
Promotions go to those fully vested in their managers, that is, self-sacrificing team players
The annual review process is largely the sole responsibility of the individual to generate, fill out and then have the manager shoot holes through or bless, based on their level of 'in-ness'

Advice to Senior Management

someone at a level high enough needs to take the morale and organization problem seriously and actually bring in some change, their existing manager focus groups do not seem to be having any effect

Pros

Good technical knowledge among the engineers
Energetic engineers who are ever willing to put that extra work to get things going

Cons

Slowly it is getting crowded
Compensation is getting worse day by day, but the work pressure continues to be same
Poor work life balance

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing specific...i guess it is a transition that we are going thru & any transition is just stresfull....hopefully we come out of this successful

Pros

1. Opportunities to specialize in certain block designs or gain experience in many different blocks
2. Analog team is absolutely world class
3. Great CAD support
4. Satisfaction of seeing designs make it into final product

Cons

1. Too many cliques, based on university & nationality which can affect promotions
2. BRCM is now a mature company, therefore a lot of work involves upgrading existing designs.

Advice to Senior Management

1. Increased feedback opportunities from mid-level engineers

Pros

Big name to put on your resume. Fast pace, knowledge people. Lots to learn. Used to have $3 dinners after 7 pm.

Cons

Hours can be long. Testing is not all exciting and if you didn't come with a PhD you may end up doing testing for your career.

Advice to Senior Management

Do not burn employees by long work hours. Need a company library system for reference books.

Pros

Still maintaining some of the old experienced members
Integration capabilities is a key
good compensation and benefits

Cons

No professional or career growth
Inexperienced management
Qualified members are not recognized
Lots of politics

Advice to Senior Management

Make your target is to perfect in your job not to please your boss
Give credit to qualified individuals
Career growth for dedicated individuals

Pros

A major player in the communications IC industry, wide portfolio of products, prominent projects

Cons

Culture prone to backroom politics, lack of cooperation between departments, documentation, work-life balance

Advice to Senior Management

Foster a better spirit of cooperation within the company

Pros

Broadcom offers a stable workplace. The engineers there are motivated, competent and responsive. Management does a decent job of communicating goals, achievements and the immediate agenda.
The Mobcom Business Unit where I work has been recently successful at achieving some design wins.
The technology development at Broadcom is very well executed in IC design.

Cons

Broadcom has struggled to innovate especially in Mobile Communications Technology. It is a place of execution, not of innovation. The downside is that the focus is always on the short term at Mobile Comm BU. Middle management and most staff at Broadcom's Mobile Comm is mostly focused on internal power struggles and fixed pie calculations within the company rather than a keen focus on the external customer.

Advice to Senior Management

More forward looking, less self congratulatory and self serving, more external customer focused, less inward looking