Take-home pay isn't as much compared to other area companies. The company reminds you with a benefits letter each year that it's a trade-off, but profitable as the operation is, it's still a head-scratcher.
The only serious reward for excellent performance is a management position. Not everyone wants to be a manager. Not everyone is cut out to be a manager. I suspect many of the negative reviews here on Glassdoor for Garmin have their roots in a manager who shouldn't have been one.
If you prefer a plainly-defined, start-here-to-get-here-via-this-and-this-and-this career path, Garmin is just not for you. There's an effort being made to make those happen, but they've really never been part of our culture. To advance, you have to be a self-starter, you have to ask questions, you have to make contacts, and you have to keep your eyes open.