Cons>Pros and some Pros are actually Cons? "Underpaid and undervalued" is the key takeaway!
Pros
Good exposure if you have little to no experience in a regulated industry. Can directly see the manufacturing of products since components/sub-assemblies are made in-house for various types of medical devices. Trainings/classes are made available upon request to expand career expertise,(although no guarantees you can apply this knowledge). Opportunities to transfer to other departments as your career sees fit (a lateral shift). Some unique benefits and bonuses offered (to offset low salary). Flexible work schedule generally permitted if necessary.
Cons
Low salary/not competitive within industry for ANY dept. Known to "promote" within by giving title changes with more responsibilities without equal pay bump (then wonder why employees leave to competitors). No annualized increases commensurate with annual review (raises are undefined; why even have a performance review if it's more of a formality than in the best interest of the employee?) Lack of efforts for employee retention, ex: high Engineering turnover replaced with freshly graduated students, therefore, lack of product knowledge and/or improper hand-off on projects. Upper management not technically trained on medical device standards and regulations, therefore, quality system is lacking maturity/robustness. Depending on your team, high amount of work politics will stand in your way of growth. Favoritism/biases are games played over actual quality of work. Root cause of issues not properly investigated or corrected, therefore, continue to recur (see above regarding inexperienced employees). Since company is always in firefighting mode fixing repeat issues, preventive action is hardly utilized or prioritized. Company culture is reflected the work as, "do what's easier rather than what's right" or "we haven't gotten in trouble for it yet, so it's okay" -- which should never be okay, especially in the med device industry.
