Pros
NEC offers a mix of research and development. Some groups may be more focused on business needs and thus spend most of their time on development.
Cons
- High turn around rate. People rarely stay more than 2 years. Initially people may be attracted by the research (or R&D) but soon realize that this is not a very productive research environment. - If you group is controlled by manager who is completely incompetent, it will stifle all progress or research. Can't generalize this to all groups, but I have seen similar things happen more often than not. - Senior management (essentially Roger) although nice, is practically useless. - Not much collaboration is going on. - The culture is quite backwardish, for example, working on weekends is praised, it is apparently acceptable to scold or shame employees, long and useless meetings are held in which the manager (or occasionally Roger) talk endlessly. - Not much (not any!) growth opportunities. - Pay is not competitive for full-time employees.