Pros

Of the 11 companies I've worked at in my career, Mindspeed has been the best southern California employer for me. This is due to compensation, work/life balance, and most of all, proximity to my home (probably not a reason for others.) My product group is unusually less impacted by the day-to-day trials&tribulations of an uncertain future, and I am grateful for it. My coworkers are generally above-average. Quite a few are laid-back (not slackers, mind you), but everyone gets their work done.

Cons

As others have noted, the future of the company is uncertain -- this weighs on everyone's mind at all times. Looking at Conexant next door, not doing any better, one has to really question the long-term benefit of the spinoff between the two. (Not saying that staying as 1 corp would have done any better, but the current reality is, well tenuous at best.)

Upper management does not give clear direction all the time. This results is some inefficiency at my level, as people will perform a certain task that is later tossed out or re-done with a different emphasis/specification. Were it up to me, I'd like to see better communication and co-ordination among the multiple groups here.

Advice to Senior Management

Get a strategy in place, fast. I've seen some talented team members leave due to uncertainty of the company's future. this is terrible for morale, and once a certain attrition rate hits, the fire sustains itself and burns to completion...