Pros
(1) The people at the Essex Junction VT site are all kind, helpful, and are good to work with. (2) There is a good work-life balance, especially when compared to competitors like Intel. (3) Communication from the plant manager and upper management is generally good. (4) There is a fairly generous paid parental leave policy (5) There is a strong push by the company to promote diversity and inclusion. Although the effectiveness of these actions is not known.
Cons
(1) Due to the company's recent shift in business practices, GlobalFoundries is more concerned about pumping out low-tech wafers than it is about making innovative products. As such the work is neither interesting nor important. Much of the work is mindless and meaningless. There is little room to grow in this company. I think this is a major reason the company struggles to recruit and hold talent. (2) The pay for senior-level engineers is lower than industry standards and is lower than competitors. (3) The upper management at GlobalFoundries does not value expertise. Many new hires (usually straight out of college) are given little time and sub-optimal training to fill in for the retiring legacy IBM employees who have years of experience, expertise, and PhDs in their respective fields. (4) GlobalFoundries as a company likes to present itself in the media as an American semiconductor manufacturing company, especially during the push to acquire funding from the CHIPS act. This representation is disingenuous. While it has a large footprint in America, it is owned by an investment company in the United Arab Emirates called the Mubadala group. The Mubadala group is an Emirati state-owned entity tied to the strongman authoritarian ruler of the country.