Pros
The pro's are diminishing very quickly at Peregrine, therefore I am reluctant to give a pro as it may be non-existent in a month. The best thing I can say is the manufacturing and operations organizations in this company really have it together. If the rest of the company were managed as well it would be a phenomenal company to work for.
Cons
Executive Management: Upper management is absolutely blind to what is going on in this company, and there is complete lack of accountability at the VP and above level. My opinion is this is due to the fact that the executive staff were all engineers/friends prior to being promoted into their executive positions. This has created a "good old boys club" at the top where accountability is amiss and they back each other up out of self preservation. Imagine a closed of circle of people living an alternate reality. This is the root and foundation of what has made this a toxic company. Upper management completely and absolutely deaf by choice to the realities of the company that is running below them. HR and Benefits: With the hiring of a HR Vice president in the second quarter of last year this company has experienced layoff/mass firings every quarter there, looking at another 15% layoff this quarter. About the only incentive this company had was the ability to sell back your vacation, but HR has eliminated this program. No ESPP, no bonus's, no vacation buy back...no benefits beyond the bare bone benefits you would find at any company. While we are talking about layoff and vacation...how about all that vacation you've been saving up over the past year to take a trip you've been looking forward too....as the mob likes to say....for get about it...you can plan on your vacation days being consumed quarterly by mandatory vacation days...they have to do this so they can try to make their numbers. If you have stock options and want to sell them good luck. If you want to sell stock options you have one month per quarter that you are allowed to sell otherwise your account is locked from trading by the company, so if the stock is sinking and you want to sell to minimize you loss...forget it...they've tied you to the anchor and you're going to Davey Jone's Locker...kiss your money good bye.. Middle management Overall, a ship with out a rudder and no sails. Lack of effective direction from executive staff and worse yet the executive staff does not give the middle management the authority to function as managers. The staff themselves are a mixed bag. There are a few good managers, but most of the managers chosen by the executive staff are spineless with no self drive and motivation so as to prevent disagreement between middle management and executive management. You would be quite alarmed to learn of the background of some of the managers lack of experience and background in the areas they are managing...absolutely baffling. So there you go...that is Peregrine Semiconductor in a nutshell.