Arm

Arm is close to the forefront of the latest technology innovations. There is always something interesting and exciting to learn about. But Arm is also excellent at making working close to the forefront of innovation pleasant to work for. There are a lot of departments and areas within Arm, making it great for technical development. The GPU department specifically has an excellent structure and everything is well organised. The culture of the company seems really nice, and there are real efforts being made to make everyone feel included. I feel comfortable to suggest new ideas or explore ideas without being micromanaged, and feel like I am rewarded for it.

There is a lot of flexibility to work however works for you, and I can work up to 60% of the time from home without needing to give any warning. The Cambridge office has a nice community and they're always finding ways to improve life. There's a gym on-site that's free for employees, three cafeterias with different types of food, also varying each day, often they put on events such as connect days with extra food trucks etc. or put on a BBQ. There's also a shuttle bus running regularly between the Cambridge station and the office. There are also social committees run by employees for each division which are given a budget, and make for a great way to meet fellow employees and enjoy an activity you might not otherwise try.

Most of this is also opt-in, so you are never obliged to spend additional time outside of work. The IT department is excellent, and requesting technology, such as a monitor for working from home, is easy and painless. The one time I had a real technical issue they sat down with me for 45 minutes and it was solved. The intern scheme was well structured - the team should have chosen a project which takes approximately 3 months and allows you to get a good idea of what it's like to work on something and get skills.

The graduate scheme was generally also well done, with a global meeting to meet all other graduates at the start, a committee of other graduates deciding on activities, and a rotation scheme allowing you to visit other parts of the company for a few months to get experience. However the rotation scheme isn't organised much between departments, so your experience may vary a lot depending on where your role is. The company is very diverse, and there are offices all across the world, and there is a lot of diversity of employee origins which is really nice. However gender diversity within the company is still limited. There are employee resource groups for most minority groups, which facilitates discussion over issues faced by these minorities and how to address them.

There is a general feeling that DEI matters.

Although the catering is of excellent quality and variety, it's also quite expensive with few cheaper options, so to save money your only option is to bring a packed lunch, or walk 15 minutes to Tesco (and back). Work is often cross-site.

This is diverse and varied, but can also lead to you being on a different site to a lot of your team or your manager. Though Arm does try and allow occasional trips so managers and employees can meet in person. This does also mean you can sometimes get a certain role even if you're on a different site.

I've heard of some graduates ending up in roles they don't like, and being unable to switch. Some of these teams seem to be lacking in senior experience leadership within the team, which can make it difficult to grow and experience what working in a healthy team is like. The teams across the offices are quite separated aside from day-to-day work and occasional social activities or connect days.

Having a DEI push is an excellent idea, but I feel like we could do with more visibility.

Right now it feels like I almost never hear about it outside of going to ERG meetings. It'd be good to have more newsletters and activities related to this space, as well as more actionable examples of how to make an inclusive workspace.

I think there should also be more care put into ensuring the conditions of teams graduates and interns are placed in. Managers should be experienced in managing and the team size large enough to learn from.

We could do with more cross-team interaction outside of current work. It's good to understand other parts of the company better and facilitate relationships that'll make future interactions easier.

I think GPU could do with restarting coffee roulette and occasionally matching teams to interact with each other.