Growing cynical from no engineering work, yet pacified by the easy work. Can't work here much longer...
Pros
I like the telecommuting options, and I like the flexible work schedule quite a lot. They allow up to 2 days per week of telecommuting - I take advantage of it. I usually show up between 8 and 8:30, but sometimes as late as 9 AM. This is not an issue. As long as my work gets done and I'm there for the occasional early meetings my boss doesn't care. Also, since the company is so large, if there is a major recall or customer issue and they lose millions of dollars, your job is still safe. If the division closes they will look for new positions for you in another division. If you're willing to travel, they are usually willing to support it. The benefits package is second only to Ford Motor Company from my experience. The pay is lower, but they tell you that it's to ensure job security... who knows.
Cons
More so than other jobs I've had, the office might as well be congress because there is so much politics. You simply can't trust ANYBODY. People are waiting for a bus to drive by to throw you under it so they can lift themselves up. At least in Plymouth, the company is very manager/leadership oriented, so you get tons of suck-ups who will run you over to advance themselves. Until relatively recently there wasn't even a path for technical people to advance to. The technical/engineering knowledge in Plymouth is severely lacking. The less you know the higher you go... This weeds out all of the technical minded people. The largest issue I have with Bosch is the German centrist attitude. "Germany is the design competency center" is something I hear way too much. You will never be able to design anything electronic UNLESS you live in Germany. That's ridiculous, and simply offensive. You can demonstrate your ability all you want - it won't get you anywhere. I've been doing it for years. Not only are you not allowed to design anything, you cant even make changes to the project without Germany's approval. Even changing a resistor value has to be done using the calculation sheet that Germany designed. After they design the calculation sheets they lock them down with password protection. The engineer in Plymouth just takes the calculation sheets from the designer in Germany, enters the project specific information in the excel spread sheet, and clicks "go" to run the macro. Then, they ask somebody in Germany to change the part on the BOM. That's just ridiculous... why am I hear, again? Only so management can tell the customer that they have local technical people that can answer the questions they have once in a blue moon.
