Pros
Manassas is close to Washington DC, lots of opportunities for someone fond of history, culture, arts and food (Smithsonian museums, Georgetown, civil war sites). If you work in a fab, you'll get 3/4 days off per week. Work is not difficult; easy money. If you work on first shift, you get a chance to work with magnificent people. Opportunities for expatriate jobs in and outside the US (Boise, ID; Taiwan; Japan, Israel). Lots of technical credentials to add into your resume if you are an engineer on first shift. They pay for your education.
Cons
Unrealistic expectations when it comes to workload; no clear prioritization scheme. Lots of projects started but not all are completed. On meetings, leads try to outperform each other on 'action items' that eventually fall to their subordinates. Low pay relative to workload. For $80,000/yr + $1500 bonus, you're expected to work from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, plus nights and weekends depending on the project you are working on, you'll be required to carry a pager/respond to a page 24/7. 'Training on the fly' is the norm. You really need to ask around because any mistakes are costly and will bite your butt. Pay freeze for two years now ... although the company is racking in profits and buying other companies (Elpida). For green card hopefuls, this is not a good company to sponsor you. Even engineers with MS and PhD degrees or more than 5 years experience gets an EB-3 application. You will likely get stuck on the same position until you get a green card (5-8 years). Old boy's network. Even technicians with no degrees become managers just because they helped set-up Micron back in Boise. Eventually, they get an executive MBA from GMU or BSU but they still manage like machine shop owners. Very few people are promoted, moderate to substantial bias against foreign workers when it comes to managerial positions. Middle management is eager to impress their senior bosses at the expense of subordinates. They suck big time.
