It's a stepping stone to something bigger (Connected Car)
Pros
Great culture depending on which group you're in, but the building is small as compared to an OEM so it is very easy to get to know to everyone. It is also very easy to rub elbows with management since everything is so tight-knit. Harman is also excellent with their tools despite some of the groaning that may be heard.
Cons
The biggest con is that everything is getting outsourced to India, which has been a priority for Dinesh ever since he took over the reins. I have seen so many H1B workers come in that Americans have become a minority. Harman does this because they have a hard time hiring talent, which stems from very noncompetitive salaries. Intentional? I think so. Mediocre work-life balance in most engineering groups, although they are working on this. It's definitely not as bad as Denso, but people have left because of it. Most of the higher management believes that they understand startup culture, yet none of them have actually been involved with a startup (except for a couple). I wrote my two-cents about it below. Although, the managers are good people and I had nothing against any of them. Most of the software management had been promoted out of necessity or because of internal relationships, which has had mixed results in terms of effectiveness. The hardware teams are also extremely understaffed and terribly under-supplied with equipment. On the other hand, the hardware teams and management are incredibly skilled and there are still a few veterans. You can learn a lot from them. There are also a number of software engineer veterans that are excellent at what they do.
