Applied Materials

Estimates are respected. Good work-life balance (at least as of 2010, it existed).

Work-from-home facility and flexible working hours.

Opportunities to interact with colleagues and customers from multiple geographical locations.

Frankly, not a company for Software Engineers. Software divisions are very neglected in the company. From pay, bonuses, to team outings, Software Engineers (and also Software Engineering managers) are treated like second-class citizens.

Very poor growth: One level-up costs you many years. Change only in designation, literally no change in role. Applied Materials recruited high-caliber people (people from premier institutions like IIT, BITS, NITs, etc.) during 2005, 2006, and 2007 for its Automation Products division. In a matter of a few years, all (I repeat, all) of them left the company for the same reason: lack of growth.

Poor pay compared to the rest of the software industry. We were always told that "Applied Materials is a very good payer, we stand at the 90% percentile..." but unfortunately, that statement was made based on comparison with just a few other companies that constitute only a very small fraction of the already-small semiconductor industry.

If you ever think software is an integral part of your company, pay some attention to software divisions.