Pros
They pay you. That’s about it. Oh… Also this: You can get extra or “bonus” money added to your paycheck if you write up an idea to be patented, and submit it to HPE. If They accept it for submission to the patent office, you get extra money. The bulk of it comes only AFTER you have helped the patent lawyers translate your submissions from engineer-speak to lawyer-speak, plus time delay. (Beware of what “may” happen during “time delay”; see warning details below). In the USA, you need not actually build up or demonstrate your invention, to file a patent… Just an idea alone (even if you never built or never even simulated it) is enough. In other nations, you must demonstrate (build) it first. Can you as a non-USA HPE employee submit a write-up from non-USA soil, for HPE to file it in the USA? Good question… I do not know for sure, but I personally doubt it… Good luck with that!
Cons
Things are often counter-intuitive (not at all, what they appear to be, and for sure, not what they should be) at HPE. And They are CONSTANTLY looking for new ways to deprive HPE employees of yet another dollar! We all know, sure, about not getting paid for accumulated, un-used vacation when you get laid off or are quitting, yes… But also this: You just got promoted from chief-cook-and-bottle-washer engineer, to specialist engineer? You think it’s time to celebrate? Not so fast! They give you NO additional pay, then (at “promotion” time), and NOW (since your job grade is higher) They can write harsher reviews about you! They can “set you up” for the next layoff, since, as a “specialist”, your output is now expected to triple! So a “promotion” may mean “time to jump to another department at HPE, if you can, to get a lower job grade, and lower expectations, back”. That, too, is risky, because many departments at HPE will be populated by workers who try and “fence out” the (sacrificial scapegoat) newcomer, so that “newbie” will get the Management-mandated-bell-curve-required “D” or “F” grade that is required roughly one per each department (and get laid off), so that the fencers-outers are left safe, high and dry. … Getting back to submitting patents: You may think, as some have, that, since you can work tons and megatons of overtime and sacrifice your vacations, too, to do an excellent job for HPE, and STILL not get any raises, or even have ANY real job security… Then, your extra work should go into submitting patent applications instead, and THERE, at least, you’re more likely to get some minimal payback. But once again, not so fast… To play it safe, I would NOT recommend putting in more than 1 patent application at once. I had a friend, he or she put in a “wave” of patent applications, did all the work to help the lawyers “translate” the documents, and then was (supposedly) owed a bunch of money by HPE (HP at the time). But this was “lag time” (time delay till pay-off), during which he or she got laid off! And then black-listed from future employment of any kind with HP/HPE, but let’s not go there… So HP got the patent rights, and this inventor never got paid! The “HP Invent” logo, if honestly re-written, should now read “HPE Don’t Invent Too Much at the Same Time, or HPE will Callously Lay You Off Right Before They’d Otherwise Have to Pay You”. Can HPE stoop any lower to pinch another penny away from the bottom tier, to add to the Top Executives’ Paychecks and Bonuses? I don’t know, but it looks pretty bleak…