Note that I become a WD employee through its acquisition of SanDisk, I would have never accepted a job offer to work for WD if it were my choice.
WD is a cheap company. Compensation at WD is 10-30% below market median for engineers in Silicon valley. This is because the company is a bottom feeder, i.e. it doesn't attract the brightest and the sharpest, and neither did it need to do so running the rusty legacy HDD business. However, Sandisk is relatively a high-tech company that was one of the targets of talent in the area before the acquisition. Post this doomed acquisition, an increasing number of talented engineers have left and are leaving the company. Some high level folks are just waiting to get their package and open those "parachutes"
Company has more than $15B debt. What incentives have you given your employees to offset the risk of your gamble?
Leadership at WD doesn't have the technical smarts to run a chip company that thrives on Moore's law. The CEO is an accountant(?).They cannot comprehend the heavy R&D cost required to shrink things by 1nm or a couple of atoms, all they know is adding more plates to an HDD (aka spinning rust). I don't see a bright future, especially given the strong competition now that's already ahead.
Terrible benefits, the health benefits are worse than those offered to an average college student. Super high-deductible plans, high premiums, in fact WD health insurance is about the same as getting Obamacare on your own. There are no perks, well maybe the free cheap coffee WD CEO is so proud of. (yes until recently WD didn't even provide free coffee to their employees).
Bonus/RSU's suck. There is no retention package post acquisition, instead they reduce the benefits.
The equality prices may rise short term given the higher margins of SanDisk compared to the spinning rust business, but it will drop faster than a rock once the high winds of competition will start to shake this rotten structure.
finally the name "Western Digital" just sounds dumb!!! Who wants to say they work for "Western Digital" ?
If you are ambitious, young, talented (especially NCGs from top university with advanced degree) this place is not for you.
