Cisco

Being a big company, one's experience can vary significantly from person to person. So I am providing only my experience, and this may be contradicting to others.

If you are working hard, the company or leadership team provides whatever you want. This is my personal experience. I agree there's a lot of politics, but if you are an A-category employee, the leadership team always values you. Promotions are again based on ratings and vary from team to team. Cisco pays best among network companies.

Work-life balance: Always the best and on par with some of the best companies in the Bay Area.

Perm for foreign nationals is difficult to start, as Cisco is constantly restructuring. Though restructuring is good for the company, foreign nationals suffer because of it. I see this as the only reason to move to a different company.

Recruitment should be improved. Quality is comparatively low during mass recruitment events.

I think the leadership team needs a shuffle. They need to innovate more rather than trying to imitate. I think this is true for most networking companies.