Cypress Semiconductor Design Engineer Reviews

Pros

I enjoy working there for the past 5 years

Cons

I have no cons at this time

Pros

Paid on time, benefits OK

Cons

Couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag

Pros

Good learning, exposure, good team

Cons

less salary, no work-life balance

Pros

People there are very friendly

Cons

The company's location is far from the downtown.

Pros

Decent benefits, especially after they started matching 401K

Cons

Design flow is too rigid and unproductive. Lots of review boards. No-one is trusted to make their own decisions. Micro-management.

Pros

After nearly 30 years, CY still manages to succeed in an extremely volatile market. While many semiconductor companies come and go, CY stays the course. The technical ability of employees is well above average, which is attributed to the core values (we hire only the best) and the rigorous interview process (recently ranked as one of the 20 toughest interviews in corporate America.).

Cons

Management is stifling and has a poor track record of execution. Many product lines have gone by the wayside because of the management style, and the demeaning dictatorial style of the CEO. Further, the bloated overhead of processes makes it difficult to compete in the rapid product cycles of the tech industry. Effectively, anytime something goes wrong, a process must be added to ensure that it never goes wrong again, and everyone gets punished for one engineer's mistake. In the end, the "law code" of these so-called "quality checks" appears more like Congressional law code, and one might argue that it takes an "act of congress" to get even the simplest product out the door.

Pros

Technical management (mostly) shields engineers from executive management. The CEO is the founder (engineer turned businessman) - at times it does feel like Cypress is driven by engineering.

Cons

There are many corporate processes that are stuck in the past and basically set in stone despite the often heard phrase which promotes change: "follow the spec or change it". An abundance of management layers - technical management and project management don't communicate well which has implications for project scheduling. The longer I stay at Cypress the less I am making - health benefits cost more (and are worse) each year and annual raises are not commensurate with the cost of living.

Pros

Original Company Core Values respectable and correct--corrupted over time by self-seeking company managers

Cons

The Company does not respect the personal values of it's employees. Lying, subterfuge, and cover-up is expected from employees, so as to proliferate management " tall tales" on issues throughout the company. If one stands by thier principles and tells the truth regarding company issues, one is told what to say, such that it matches the "story" management wishes to tell. If one refuses to just "go-along" with the dictated "story", one gets the privilidge of attending countless meetings on the subject of the "story", pursued and told to "conform" to management's line, much like one would endure in a Communist re-education camp. I once attended no less than 10 "meetings" as described above, all with the intent of wearing me down so I would just accept management's "version" of the facts on an issue. This is much like brainwashing. HR simply reinforces Management's "tales" and behaviors. Cypress cannot handle the truth....worse, the Company does much psycological damage to all that must work there. I escaped to a better job. I hope all that hate the above behaviors can get out.

Pros

I think it's a great place of learning and personal development...I personally enjoy the company meetings held by the CEO. The guy is brilliant, his speech is very much entertaining, with the thought provoking quotes..it can really keep you awake for the whole time. I think the company applies a very impressive process flow, not to mention about following the spec. "follow the spec or change it". The company culture encourage you to live on principle, and not being pragmatic, which is something I personally value as an employee. the company is all about learning, improving, efficiency and first pass yield..overall. two thumbs up for no excuses management

Cons

could have paid with higher salary

Pros

The engineering teams are filled with smart people. The company is still lead by the founder who also happens to be a tech savvy engineer and business guru.

Cons

There is no room for advancement. There are too many high paid managers and not enough people doing the actual work. The pay is not competitive (20% under market). The benefits were never good, but in 2016 they are horrible. Management leaned too much on the stock plan to fill the compensation gap. Even before the recent decline the plan was basically worthless. Look at the CY stock history - it's been flat for 3 of the last 4 years - there is no growth here!